UK’s ‘Edinburgh Reforms’ set stage for further divergence on sustainability regulation

Recent announcements by UK regulators and the government suggest that upcoming reforms are likely to result in a competitive landscape for sustainable finance regulation.

The ‘Edinburgh Reforms’ for UK financial services, announced earlier this month by chancellor Jeremy Hunt, were strongly motivated by the idea of “seiz[ing] on Brexit freedoms” and aim to detach the UK from EU-retained law on financial services, including environmental, social and governance and sustainability policymaking.