Press Release

 London, 26th May 2023: The European Leveraged Finance Association (“ELFA”) is excited to be collaborating with the ESG Integrated Disclosure Project (ESG IDP) on behalf of its members, and will explore opportunities to demonstrate interoperability in its efforts to obtain ESG disclosures from borrowers. ELFA recognises commonality with the approach taken by the ESG IDP template, and welcomes the opportunity to provide support, feedback and resources to the initiative to harmonise industry efforts and accelerate ESG integration across all markets.

The IDP template initiative is led by the Alternative Credit Council (ACC), the private credit affiliate of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA), and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).

During the past three years since the inception of ELFA’s ESG Disclosure Initiative, ELFA has engaged with market participants from across the leveraged finance ecosystem to create the ELFA ESG Fact Sheet series, including over 60 borrowers. The ELFA ESG Fact Sheets are sector-specific to guide both investors’ and borrowers’ understanding of ESG issues in their particular sector.

ELFA will continue utilising the ELFA ESG Fact Sheets. These resources have been envisioned, designed, and embedded in practice by both ELFA members and corporate borrowers alike. ELFA believes that, while the principles of ESG integration are universal to all of fixed income, for the purposes of efficacy investors must respond to the important idiosyncrasies that exist across each sub-asset class and across geographies.

ELFA is a professional trade association comprised of European leveraged finance investors from over 60 institutional fixed-income managers, including investment advisors, insurance companies, and pension funds. ELFA seeks to support the growth and resilience of the leveraged finance market while acting as the voice of its investor community by promoting transparency and facilitating engagement among European leveraged finance market participants.

Sabrina Fox, CEO at ELFA, commented: “We are very proud of the success of the ESG Disclosure Initiative in raising awareness and streamlining processes for ESG disclosure in the European leveraged finance market, and look forward to contributing to the efforts of the IDP working group to continue harmonising ESG disclosure globally. We believe that our extensive experience engaging with borrowers on ESG topics will prove useful to the IDP working group as the template develops, and we look forward to working with IDP group members.”