ASIA: South-east Asia poised for sustainable bond lift-off

While 2023 was a slowdown year for the sustainable bond market worldwide, the Asean+3 region (the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus China, Japan and South Korea) slowed down less than most. Thanks mainly to higher interest rates, global sustainable bond issuance declined from $896.1bn in 2022 to $846.2bn last year, or a 5.9 per cent drop, according to the Asian Development Bank’s Asia Bond Market March 2024 report.

But the Asean+3 region saw only a 1.4 per cent decline in sustainable bond issuance year-on-year in 2023, allowing the region’s share of the world’s market to inch up from 27.4 per cent in 2022 to 28.6 per cent in 2023. Sustainable bond issuance in Asean+3 totalled $242bn in 2023, only slightly below the eurozone’s $288.8bn.

2 February 2024

UK: New FCA anti-greenwashing rule and guidance

The FCA is introducing a new anti-greenwashing rule, due to come into force at the end of May this year. In summary, the anti-greenwashing rule will require all FCA-authorised firms to ensure that sustainability-related

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4 July 2025

US: House Passes Sweeping Bill to Fulfill President’s Domestic Agenda

The House on Thursday narrowly passed a sweeping bill to extend tax cuts and slash social safety net programs, capping Republicans’ chaotic monthslong slog to overcome deep rifts within their party

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14 February 2025

UK: £5.5billion lost to tax evasion could be significant underestimate, PAC report warns

HMRC not sufficiently curious on true scale of evasion, with no strategy for tackling it. Public Accounts CommitteeThe true cost of tax evasion is likely being vastly underestimated, as loopholes in

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6 August 2024

UAE: GPSSA launches campaign to boost proactive financial planning

The General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) has launched a new media campaign under the slogan “Plan – Save – Invest” as part of its “Proactive Financial Planning”

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