ESG and sustainable finance for Board members and conducting officers

Nowadays, it's almost impossible to open a newspaper without encountering an article on 'sustainability'. Whether it's in the context of the financial services industry, the broader economy, or society as a whole, sustainability has become a critical issue. In recent years, it has gained significant traction and is now recognised as a necessity rather than just a trend.

Over the past decade, the focus on environmental issues has grown exponentially, resulting in various global commitments and initiatives aimed at transforming current institutional, economic, and financial models.

This course is designed specifically for board members and conducting officers to help them understand the role of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors, as well as sustainable finance principles, in strategic decision-making. As ESG considerations become central to the financial and operational health of organisations, senior executives must adapt and align their strategies to these emerging trends.

By the end of this training, participants will:

• understand the foundational principles of ESG and sustainable finance;
• identify the roles and responsibilities of board members and conducting officers in implementing and overseeing ESG initiatives;
• gain insights into regulatory requirements, such as SFDR, CSRD, and EU Taxonomy, that are shaping ESG disclosures and sustainable finance practices;
• learn how to integrate ESG risks into corporate strategy, risk management, and governance frameworks.

• Introduction to ESG and sustainable finance
  • Overview of ESG factors and their relevance to financial institutions.
  • Key sustainable finance concepts: responsible investments, sustainable investments, and stakeholder engagement.
• Board-level responsibilities
  • Role of the board in ESG governance.
  • Understanding ESG risks and opportunities at a strategic level.
  • How to incorporate sustainability into decision-making and organisational culture.
• Regulatory landscape
  • Overview of SFDR, CSRD, and EU Taxonomy: key regulations board members need to know.
  • Implications of non-compliance and how to ensure alignment with regulatory expectations.
• Practical approaches for conducting officers
  • ESG reporting and disclosure requirements.
  • Best practices for conducting officers in managing ESG performance and data.

This training is coordinated by Michael Horvath, Frederic Vonner, Kenny Panjanaden and Geoffroy Marcassoli, Partners at PwC Luxembourg.

Michael has acquired a strong financial and regulatory audit as well as advisory background and significant experience leading projects in the asset management sphere.

In the recent past, Michael has been particularly involved in various regulatory projects related to the implementation of the EU regulatory framework for sustainable finance (i.e. SFDR, taxonomy regulation, CSRD) at entity and product level. Michael is involved in various other regulatory projects for clients, from DORA, AML/CFT regulation over CSSF circular 18/698 to MICA.

From daily operations to regulatory compliance, Frédéric Vonner, Partner, has been helping local and global asset managers, fund service providers and banks for, nearly 20 years, to successfully run their businesses. Areas of focus: UCITS, AIFMD and GDPR regulations, PE and RE, organisation setup and review, project management.

Frédéric also engaged on the sustainability and sustainable finance matters, delivering assignments ranging from strategy and regulatory compliance to practical implementation.

He is an experienced trainer and course designer /facilitator for soft skills and technical trainings.

Kenny is an Assurance partner specialised in ESG and sustainable finance. He is working within the ESG Assurance practice of the firm on top of leading the internal TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) working group.

On this topic, he has led several discussions with various stakeholders (regulator, government, all industry associations and players from different industries) in a bid to create awareness in the Luxembourgish market place as one of the pioneers in the early days of the task force.

Kenny is also a member of the LuxFLAG ESG Label Eligibility Committee, responsible for the attribution of labels to sustainable funds.

Geoffroy is an assurance partner specialised in ESG and sustainable finance. He is leading PwC Luxembourg ESG assurance practice as well as the PwC EMEA ESG working group for asset management. He is also an active member in a number of industry working groups on sustainable finance including EFAMA, Invest Europe, ALFI and the LPEA.

He developed his knowledge and expertise of sustainable finance through a wide range of engagements including but not limited to regulatory gap assessment, assurance reviews of sustainability report and ESG KPIs across all asset classes.

In addition to his sustainable finance and ESG responsibilities, Geoffroy is also responsible for the audit of mutual funds, hedge funds and private equity funds for global asset managers across various investments strategies.