Investor Communications Japan (ICJ) and Broadridge Financial Solutions have launched ESG Access, an algorithm which enables Japanese corporate issuers to assess ESG performance with greater transparency.

The software aims to aggregate environmental and social performance data from over 800 sources into a single rating, enabling clients a clearer understanding of their ESG standing.

“The launch of this new service is our latest initiative for issuers, enabling our clients to better understand how the world sees them and drill down into the organizations and agencies reporting on their company,” states Shigeo Imakiire, ICJ President.

Demi Derem, senior vice president of investor communication solutions at Broadridge, adds: “Better understanding of their ESG profile and how it can be improved will enable companies to strengthen relations with their stakeholders, including investors, suppliers, employees, and others”.

SIX has launched a new ‘SIX 1.5°C Climate Equity’ flag in a bid to help investors identify companies whose business models align with limiting global warming, as outlined in the Paris Agreement.

To attain the flag, firms must provide SIX with confirmation from an approved reviewer, of which two are currently available — S&P and SGS. Once a firm receives approval, the flag remains valid for a year, after which it must be renewed with updated confirmation.

Firms will be evaluated through a series of assessments to retain confirmation. This includes an analysis of the company’s emissions reduction and removal targets, to examine whether it is credible that the company currently aligns with the 1.5°C target and will continue to do so.

SIX has based these criteria on established sustainability principles and methodologies, such as the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) and the UN Race to Zero Starting Line criteria. All companies currently listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange will now be eligible to apply for the flag.

Bjørn Sibbern, global head exchanges and executive board member at SIX, comments: “Our new flag serves as a tool to enhance the visibility and reputation of companies. This in turn supports investors in making more informed decisions, reducing uncertainty around a company’s current and future climate emissions trajectory.”

Custodians–or clearing banks–will make funds available to Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) on the day of the settlement itself from October after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) gave them a nudge, the market regulator's whole time member Ananth Narayan G. said on Thursday,

While the securities settlement procedures had evolved over the years with the use of technology, payments and settlements in India were still paper-based and manual–prone to frauds, errors and delays–he told the Global Fintech Fest.

The intermediary ecosystem was typically the beneficiary of such inefficiencies, he said, adding that such inefficiencies not only affected the Indian investor but also FPIs.

Narayan said brokers currently hold around ₹2 trillion of client funds on their books on a given day. About 90-95% of small value purchases (below ₹1 lakh) involve pre-funding the broker, while the actual settlement is due on a T+1 basis, he added.

T+1 stands for trading day plus one business day.To elaborate his point, he said that when India fully moved to a T+1 settlement cycle in January 2023, most FPIs were only able to access their funds from sale of securities on T+2 or later.

Before custodians can remit out funds to FPIs, they need to ensure that all taxes have been withheld as required, and as advised by a tax consultant. The custodians provide the details of transactions to the tax consultant only after settlement of the trade on T+1.

The tax consultant provides the requisite details later in the evening on T+1 or beyond, thus making funds practically available to the FPI only on T+2 or later.

Narayan said that after Sebi’s nudge, custodians will now provide details of the FPI transactions based on inputs from the clearing corporations on T+0 evening itself, so that tax related formalities can be completed early on T+1–well in time for the funds to be remitted the same day.

“From October 2024, we expect custodians to make available funds to FPIs on the day of the settlement itself,” he said. Narayan said the beta version of the optional T+0 settlement window, introduced in March 2024, was launched to transition to an ambitious optional instantaneous settlement.

“However, while the Sebi Board will ultimately provide us guidance in this regard, for now, perhaps continuing the optional T+0 settlement alone might be the more calibrated and prudent option,” he said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted amendments to reporting requirements on Form N-PORT to provide the Commission and investors with more timely information about certain registered investment companies (funds).

Form N-PORT reports provide important information about a fund’s portfolio holdings and related information to help assess a fund’s risks.

The amendments will provide the Commission with timelier information about funds’ portfolio investments, which will promote more effective regulatory monitoring and oversight of the fund industry for the benefit of fund investors.

The amendments also will triple the amount of Form N-PORT data available to investors in a given year, enhancing investors’ ability to review and monitor information about their funds’ portfolios.

“Reliable, accessible data benefits everyone,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

“These amendments will benefit investors through greater transparency of funds’ investment portfolios and improve the Commission’s oversight of the asset management industry,” he said.

The Form N-PORT amendments will require funds that are required to report on the form—generally registered open-end funds, registered closed-end funds, and exchange-traded funds organized as unit investment trusts—to file reports on Form N-PORT on a monthly basis within 30 days after the end of the month to which they relate.

Currently, funds file these monthly reports on a quarterly basis within 60 days after quarter-end. The amendments will also make funds’ monthly reports on Form N-PORT available to the public 60 days after the end of each month instead of every third month of a quarter only.

In addition, the Commission adopted reporting amendments and provided guidance related to open-end fund liquidity risk management program requirements.

Specifically, the Commission adopted amendments to Form N-CEN requiring open-end funds to report certain information about service providers used to fulfill liquidity risk management program requirements so that the Commission can track certain liquidity risk management practices.

The Commission also provided guidance related to certain aspects of open-end fund liquidity risk management program requirements to address questions raised through outreach and monitoring.

The amendments to Forms N-PORT and N-CEN will become effective on November 17, 2025. Funds generally will be required to comply with the amendments for reports filed on or after that date, except that fund groups with net assets of less than $1 billion will have until May 18, 2026, to comply with the Form N-PORT amendments.