London Stock Exchange Group joining the UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) is delighted to announce that it has joined the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative as a Partner Exchange. The platform aims to provide an effective peer-to-peer dialogue among global exchanges, encouraging sustainable investment, while also enhancing corporate transparency on environmental, social and corporate governance issues. 

The SSE initiative was launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York in 2009 and has nine Partner Exchanges around the world. LSEG will become the 10th Partner Exchange. The  creation of SSE has provided stock exchanges with an opportunity to play an important leadership role in promoting sustainable business practices.. 

 Joining the SSE initiative complements London Stock Exchange Group’s existing approach to promoting sustainability and corporate responsibility, through dialogue with investors, companies and regulators. This is reflected in the Group’s third annual Corporate Responsibility (CR) Report, which has been published today, and outlines the progress made over the last year.

This latest CR report describes the Group’s social purpose in underpinning global sustainable economic growth. Relevant LSEGs initiatives include the promotion of good governance standards, encouraging best practice non-financial reporting, pioneering sustainable investing concepts through the FTSE4Good Series, the partnership with the Social Stock Exchange, providing access to capital for clean tech companies with over 160 listed on our markets, and dedicated programmes to support the growth and development of small and medium sized businesses.   

To mark the occasion, London Stock Exchange Group welcomed Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General, UNCTAD to open trading in London this morning.

Mark Makepeace, Group Director of Information Services, London Stock Exchange Group, said:

“London Stock Exchange Group’s approach to corporate responsibility is founded on four pillars that are closely tied with how we operate as a business: our markets, our services, our people, and our community. Given our role at the heart of global financial markets, we are in a unique and privileged position to promote sustainability and corporate responsibility. Ultimately this is about supporting stable global long-term economic growth. We are therefore delighted to join the UN SSE initiative as a Partner Exchange and we look forward to collaborating on important sustainability themes with the UN and peer exchanges around the world.”

Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General, UNCTAD, United Nations, commented:

“By joining the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative today, London Stock Exchange Group commits to a renewed effort to engage in dialogue with key capital market stakeholders to raise the level of best practice. Together, we can promote markets where market-signals and sustainability priorities are in alignment, not conflict. This is part of our vision for a sustainable future. This is will be a key element for promoting much-needed investment in sustainable development"

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Notes to editors:

About London Stock Exchange Group:

London Stock Exchange Group (LSE.L) is a diversified international exchange Group that sits at the heart of the world’s financial community. The Group can trace its history back to 1801.

The Group operates a broad range of international equity, bond and derivatives markets, including London Stock Exchange; Borsa Italiana; MTS, Europe’s leading fixed income market; and the pan-European equities platform, Turquoise. Through its markets, the Group offers international business, and investors, unrivalled access to Europe’s capital markets.

Post trade and risk management services are a significant and growing part of the Group’s business operations. LSEG operates CC&G, the Rome headquartered CCP and Monte Titoli, the significant European settlement business, selected as a first wave T2S participant. The Group is also a majority owner of leading multi-asset global CCP, LCH.Clearnet.

The Group offers its customers an extensive range of real-time and reference data products, including Sedol, UnaVista, Proquote and RNS. FTSE calculates thousands of unique indices that measure and benchmark markets and asset classes in more than 80 countries around the world.

London Stock Exchange Group is also a leading developer of high performance trading platforms and capital markets software. In addition to the Group’s own markets, over 30 other organisations and exchanges around the world use the Group’s MillenniumIT trading, surveillance and post trade technology.

Headquartered in London, United Kingdom with significant operations in Italy, France, North America and Sri Lanka, the Group employs approximately 2,800 people.