In January 2024 Szecskay Attorneys at Law has introduced a cross-practice area ESG/Sustainability Task Force to remain in step with the international ESG regulatory framework and the Hungarian ESG Act (Act No CVIII of 2023 on rules and amendment of relevant acts relating to corporate social responsibility, taking into account environmental, social and societal aspects, in order to promote sustainable financing and unified corporate responsibility), which will gradually enter into force from 1 January, 2024.
ESG and sustainability compliance impact all corporations and sectors in Hungary, within the EU and essentially all over the world, either directly for large corporations or directly or indirectly for small or medium size businesses supplying larger corporations.
More broadly, sustainability compliance impacts corporations, to name but a few examples, when they:
- look for institutional financing from banks or investments from financial investors for sustainability projects;
- plan project developments and their environmental and social impacts;
- bid for and supply corporations who are subject to or voluntarily submit themselves to supply chain due diligence rules;
- make responsible sustainability statements in their financial reports or commercial communications with the care and validity to avoid authority investigation for greenwashing or social media hate campaigns or other reputational losses from customers; and
- work out corporate governance and human resource management policies and compliance practices to avoid social harm claims.
Our cross practice area ESG/Sustainability Task Force is supported by our relevant practice groups:
- Advertising Law
- Banking and Finance
- Competition Law
- Contract and Commercial Law
- Corporate / M&A
- Dispute Resolution
- Employment Law
- Energy and Environment
- Real Estate and Construction
Our team is at your service from legally relevant aspects:
- when you work out a due diligence system on sustainability risk assessment, risk management, risk prevention and corrective measure policies, amongst others;
- when you work out internal procedures to prevent and detect sustainability failures;
- when you revise and improve the compliance of your internal corporate governance policies/rules of operation, general terms and procurement terms to bring them into line with your sustainability due diligence system requirements;
- when you need M&A due diligence to mitigate ESG exposure in respect to the acquisition of a new target;
- when you prepare a project plan and seek financing or investors for it and need assistance to comply with their sustainability due diligence and your sustainability warranties and declarations;
- when you wish to identify shareholders and directors’ duties and liabilities in respect of evolving regulated ESG/sustainability obligations;
- when you extend your whistleblowing system to sustainability compliance;
- when you wish to build up your internal commercial sustainability claims clearance system to avoid greenwashing;
- when you are subject to an authority investigation due to misleading sustainability claims or in an environmental licensing procedure; and
- when you are threatened or faced with litigation with an ESG angle.
We are also happy to assist with the legal modules and case studies for your employees’ ESG trainings.
To find out more, contact:
