Greenwashing Gems: How Asset Managers Play with Regulation

Reclaim Finance reports that asset managers are bypassing European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) guidelines on ESG fund naming to continue investing in fossil fuel developers. Analysis of 190 French-domiciled or managed funds shows nearly half changed names to avoid regulatory constraints. The document attributes these loopholes to lobbying by firms like BlackRock and Amundi and warns that similar gaps may be introduced into the revised Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).

• Asset managers are utilizing loopholes in the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) guidelines to keep sustainable-sounding names for funds that still invest in companies developing new fossil fuel projects.
• An analysis of 190 funds domiciled in France or managed by French asset managers that changed names between May 2024 and May 2025 revealed that nearly half did so to avoid specific regulatory constraints.
• Major financial institutions, including BlackRock, Amundi, BNP Paribas Asset Management, UBS, and JP Morgan AM, lobbied ESMA during a 2022 consultation to oppose the use of Paris Aligned Benchmark (PAB) exclusions and push for looser criteria for 'ESG' or 'Transition' funds.
• There is a risk that the revision of the EU's Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) will replicate existing loopholes if the European Commission accepts lobbying efforts to limit fossil fuel-related exclusions to only one category.

APA

Martin, L. (2025). Greenwashing Gems: How Asset Managers Play with Regulation. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2025/09/18/greenwashing-gems-how-asset-managers-play-with-regulation/

Chicago

Martin, Léo. Greenwashing Gems: How Asset Managers Play with Regulation. Reclaim Finance, 2025. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2025/09/18/greenwashing-gems-how-asset-managers-play-with-regulation/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Martin |first1=Léo |title=Greenwashing Gems: How Asset Managers Play with Regulation |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=18 September 2025 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2025/09/18/greenwashing-gems-how-asset-managers-play-with-regulation/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{martin2025greenwashing, author = {Martin, Léo}, title = {{Greenwashing Gems: How Asset Managers Play with Regulation}}, publisher = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2025}, month = sep, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2025/09/18/greenwashing-gems-how-asset-managers-play-with-regulation/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }