Regulators and legislators playing catch-up

Regulators and legislators have tended to lag behind technological and market developments. Two recent cases expose some of the issues that exist when institutions are either unwilling to or incapable of moving quickly.

The first example is the recent creation of a global body to issue standards or guidance related to environmental, social and governance reporting — or ‘ESG’. This is an area of reporting for entities of all kinds that has been demanded by stakeholders because there has been a growing awareness of the impact companies, associations, and other entities have on their communities.

Various permutations of these forms of guidance have been created over time by different bodies.