ESG disclosure: regulatory framework and challenges for Italian banks

In line with developments at the global level, the attention of financial regulators on ESG factors, particularly on environmental and climate-related risks, has significantly increased over recent years. In this context, disclosure of relevant climate-related information plays a key role, for both financial and non-financial stakeholders. The EU regulatory framework on disclosure is rather advanced when compared with other jurisdictions and will be almost ready for implementation in the next few months. The Bank of Italy, in line with the ECB and other national supervisors, has started a number of initiatives aimed at actively contributing to major international projects, strengthening the dialogue with the national industry and assessing the progress made by supervised entities. The paper: i) summarises the main regulatory requirements for ESG disclosure; ii) investigates the areas of commonalities at the EU level between the Pillar 3 disclosure requirements and those envisaged by the standards under development by the EFRAG; iii) takes stock of the main supervisory initiatives undertaken so far and presents some preliminary thoughts on the major challenges ahead to be faced by Italian banks.