This chapter examines the evolution of regulatory regimes in the apparel industry as a comparison with efforts to regulate PMSCs. Lessons learned from the efforts of the Fair Labor Association and the Workers Rights Consortium might provide a road map for creating a hybrid public-private regulatory regime for PMSCs that contains all the necessary elements of high standards, implementation guidelines, independent monitoring, an enforcement mechanism, and public reporting. Incentives could be established by giving companies an industry seal of approval that would indicate their adherence to ethical business practices. This could be attractive to non-state customers, like NGOs and other companies that need security and are worried about the reputations of their providers. The existence of a hybrid regulatory regime would not, however, alleviate the state's responsibility to conduct ongoing assessments of the human rights impact of such an effort, including by examining the global structure and operations of the PMSC industry.

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Following the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, many investors responded by unloading their Russian sovereign debt holdings. However, data from Bloomberg show that at the time of the 24 February Russian invasion of Ukraine, ESG funds – investment funds pursuing environmental, social and governance goals – still held at least $8.3 billion in Russian assets;1 and while more than a thousand companies have curtailed their Russian operations and over 500 are holding off on new investments in the wake of Russia’s invasion,2 investors have been accused of being ‘missing in action’.3