The essential
- Social and environmental rating agencies evaluate companies according to environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria;
- There are many rating agencies, sometimes specialized on one of these three criteria;
- These agencies have methodologies of their own, but the trend is towards the homogenization of practices.
The social and environmental rating agency, or extra-financial rating agency, is tasked with assessing companies according to environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. Unlike the conventional financial rating agency, it is not remunerated by companies but by investors and managers directly, who seek to reinforce their investment decisions. However, a company may also request an assessment from an extra-financial rating agency in order to highlight its responsible positioning.
The resulting rating is used by asset management companies to build and market socially responsible investment funds (SRIs).
The ESG criteria on which the extra-financial rating is based
Social and environmental rating agencies do not assess a company's ability to repay debt, as traditional rating agencies do. Their mission is to measure the company's potential to create sustainable value. For this, they integrate three criteria:
- The environmental criterion : it measures all the initiatives taken by the company to limit its environmental impact and to make the transition towards the use of renewable energies.
- The social criterion : it studies the social climate within the company. It is about respect for diversity, human rights, and the evaluation of working conditions.
- The governance criterion : it focuses mainly on transparency around executive compensation, the organization of powers, the rights of minority shareholders, etc.
As a result, the extra-financial evaluation is longer-term than the traditional financial evaluation. She studies internal business transformation processes rather than managing her debt.
The different social and environmental rating agencies
Most social and environmental rating agencies appeared in the early 2000s. In France, the main non-financial rating agencies are: Vigeo , Ethifinance , Innovest and BMJ CoreRating. Some specialize in the evaluation of one criterion to the detriment of others. Proxinvest, for example, works exclusively on governance issues.
In view of investors' growing interest in socially responsible investments, the traditional players in financial rating have decided to take into account these extra-financial criteria in their approach. Thus, Standard & Poor , which bought the British Trucost in 2016 (rating agency specialized in the study of the environmental impact) integrates the delay in sustainable development policies among the risks likely to affect in the longer term the financial health of the company.
It should also be noted that a growing number of management companies and some large institutional investors (pension funds, insurers) are developing their own rating system.
The methodology of SRI rating agencies
There is no standard methodology for performing the scoring. Thus, the agencies develop their own indicators, from a selection of inputs. However, the process of obtaining these inputs rarely differs: agencies consult public documents, develop dedicated questionnaires which are then distributed to employees and contractors of the company, rely on stakeholders (NGOs, unions, organizations government, etc.) and the media.
In addition, it organizes meetings with employees and management, which aim to determine:
- prevention measures taken by the company to limit crises related to ESG issues,
- the level of application of international standards and ESG best practices ,
- the quantitative and qualitative performance of the initiatives taken by the company (example: the carbon footprint).
The majority of rating agencies exclude from their analysis companies that are in controversial industries such as tobacco, alcohol, gambling, prostitution, armaments, or those that practice child labor. These exclusions may however differ depending on the country of origin of the agency
A desire to standardize eco-responsible rating methods
What is more subjective than the appreciation of a socially responsible approach? Unlike exclusively financial, strictly quantifiable criteria, a dimension such as the level of transparency of a company is difficult to measure with indicators. It is therefore not surprising that a score of the same company varies according to the agency that established it, especially since all do not allocate the same weighting to each of the criteria.
However, common indicators are beginning to be deployed: the carbon footprint, for example, is a measure that serves as a basis for rating agencies to assess the environmental impact of the business. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), initiated in 2015 by the United Nations, are gradually integrated into the methodology as benchmarks for impact measurement.
Although the trend has been towards the centralization of the social and environmental rating players in recent years, it does not provide any guarantee that the results will be interoperable. In its action plan on sustainable finance, the European Commission wants to "study the appropriateness of amending the regulation on credit rating agencies that would require them to explicitly include sustainability factors in their assessments" . In this sense, a survey on the quality of research and the independence of rating agencies is planned for the year 2019.
What Nalo does for you
Despite their interest in sustainable savings, only 3% of French people have been offered SRI investments in 2017. There is still little offer to invest in socially responsible funds. Even where possible, it is sometimes difficult for the non-expert investor to select from the multitude of funds offered.
Nalo offers a life insurance policy in delegated and tailor-made management, which allows you to easily opt for eco-responsible portfolios. You benefit from the expertise of a FinTech in the selection of ETFs that meet the ESG criteria while taking advantage of their performance at reduced costs.
When filing for a divorce, you must provide proof of payment for the court fee. It is PLN 600. You can pay it later, but you must not exceed 6 days from the time you submit your claim - otherwise it will be dismissed. In the case of low income or lack thereof, you can apply for exemption from court costs. If the divorce is carried out without adjudication, then half of the payment will be refunded. PLN 300 is returned to the plaintiff's account, while the other costs are divided in half. This means that the spouse must pay 150 zlotys. In the case of divorce with adjudication about guilt, the entire cost of the court fee shall be borne by a person found guilty of the dissolution of the marriage.
If the divorce case is complicated and additional requests are necessary, eg for maintenance, division of property, eviction, or appointment of appraisers, then additional costs should be expected. The fee for granting maintenance in a divorce case is 5% of the amount awarded. However, the maintenance case without divorce does not entail any costs. In the case of a division of property, where the spouses agree, the fee is PLN 300. If the property is a contentious issue, then the cost is PLN 1,000.
In order to obtain a ruling on the spouse's eviction, 200 zlotys are paid. Each judgment is payable additionally. The parent will pay 40 zlotys for securing the visits, and 30 zlotys for the appeal against the security order. Added to this are fees in the form of PLN 6 per page of a copy of the decision. Any attempt to rescue a relationship requiring marital therapy costs between PLN 150 and 200 for the screening. Mediation in the family counseling center is associated with an expenditure of 50 to 200 PLN. When there is a dispute between the spouses regarding parental authority or contact with the child, it is necessary to issue an opinion by the Family Diagnostic and Consultative Center. This is another expense in the amount of 300 to 500 PLN. If, despite the mediation and opinions of the CODEC, the curator's insight into contact with the child is necessary, then additional costs, even up to several thousand zlotys, should be reckoned with.
If you do not have the resources to set up a divorce case, you can apply for exemption from court costs. To this end, you must file with the claim a documented evidence and proof that the property situation does not allow you to pay a fee, because it would upset the home budget. The forms to be filled in can be found on the court's website or downloaded at his facility. In the case of a case of guilt, the costs are borne by the person guilty of the dissolution of the marriage and is obliged to reimburse the expenses. The court will order payment of not only fees for the ruling, but also for the lawyer, appointment of experts, travel costs. Exemption from court costs does not exempt the spouse from reimbursement if the case is lost. If the plaintiff is found guilty, he will have to reimburse the other party.
Not everyone can apply for exemption from court costs. However, there is always the option of reducing additional expenses. To minimize them, it is advisable to bring a case without adjudging on the blame. That's a minimum of PLN 300 saved on the court costs alone, not to mention the attorney. Another way is to find out about child custody before filing a lawsuit. This will avoid spending on requests for security of visits, visits to the CODE, costs of the mediator, etc. Divorce cases can drag on for years, and this generates costs. The compatibility of both sides allows them to be very limited.
As can be seen from the above article, the costs of divorce start at PLN 300 in the case of independent conduct of a case, without adjudging on guilt. In extreme cases, they can reach up to several thousand zlotys. Some people, due to high fees, use installment loans to cover the costs of divorce. To make the break with the partner lighter for the wallet, it is worth taking care to reach a compromise outside the court headquarters, and only carry out the most important matters on the spot. The cost of a divorce - what fees must be expected when divorcing? 3.1 (61.43%) 14 vote [s] 
For many people, the debt vindicator is associated with a court bailiff. Nothing more wrong! The debt collector is not a civil servant but an employee of a private debt collection company that collects debts. Thus, his actions are in no way related to the ruling activities of the state. It looks different in relation to the court bailiff. This, using the powers granted to him by the state, has a relatively wide range of powers.
In addition, the bailiff operates on the basis of a specific legal order that he must follow. He also has the obligation to respect the provisions of generally applicable law in his proceedings. The bailiff is subject to legal liability before the court and the competent bailiffs self-government authorities. On the other hand, debt vouchers are only subject to the regulations in force in a given debt collection company. Unfortunately, most of the time for exceeding the powers nothing is threatening the debt collector! Fortunately, this does not mean that the debtor has no rights. If you want to be sure that the employee of the debt collection agency does not exceed your rights, it is worth checking in advance what the debt voucher can collect.
Debt collection is soft as the name suggests is to act as a settlement. Its characteristic feature is the delicate treatment of the debtor by the debt collector and an attempt to persuade him to cooperate, i.e. to pay the debt. The methods used in this type of debt collection include phones and text messages reminiscent of the need to repay debts or monies.
If the soft recovery fails, the debt collector has the right to reach for hard debt recovery. The purpose of hard debt recovery is to prompt the debtor to settle the obligation as quickly as possible. The methods used in hard debt collection include the initiation of court proceedings, the initiation of enforcement proceedings or conducting an economic interview. A person who fails to pay his debts is also entered in the debtors' registers. Information on indebtedness may also appear on the pages of debt exchanges.
If we are late in repaying our debt, our debt may be transferred to a debt collection company. Her main task is to recover her debts. Thus, the debt vindicator will seek to enforce the debt through a settlement. He will also try to find out the delay in repayment. In addition, he will try to contact the debtor about repayment of the loan.
What can the debt vouchers be? He has the right to show us the consequences of non-payment. His powers are limited to attempts to contact the debtor in writing and by phone and make an appointment with him (on condition that the indebted person agrees). Remember that if we ignore the actions of the debt collector, the creditor will most likely try to recover the funds due to him in court.
If we are debtors and we are afraid of debt collection proceedings, let's get acquainted with your rights. The actions that can not be taken by the debtor debt collector in relation to the debtor are:
Exceeding the rights by the debt collector is the basis for suing him in civil proceedings for infringement of personal rights (Article 24 § 1 of the Civil Code). What else is not an employee of a debt collection agency allowed? He has no right to harass the debtor by phone or text, even if the purpose of such an attempt to contact is to induce debt repayment. It is worth knowing that we also have no obligation to provide our personal data to us, including sensitive data.
If the debt collector exceeds his powers, we can report it to the creditor. We also have the right to submit appropriate notification to the police and prosecutors. Remember that he is obliged to obey the law and act in accordance with it. Although the powers of the debt collector are not very wide, it is worth trying to communicate with him. This will protect us against further requests for payment and the initiation of court proceedings.
