Most ethical investment banks bnp

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The following list catalogues the largest, most profitable, and otherwise notable investment banks. This list of investment banks notes full-service banks, financial conglomeratesindependent investment banksprivate placement firms and notable acquired, merged, or bankrupt investment banks. As an industry it is broken up into the Bulge Bracket upper tier inveztment, Middle Market mid-level businessesand boutique market specialized businesses. The following are the largest full-service global investment banks; full-service investment banks usually provide both advisory and financing banking servicesas well as sales, market makingand research on a broad array of financial products, including equitiescreditratescurrencycommoditiesand their derivatives. The largest investment banks are noted with the following: [3] [4].

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An ethical bank , also known as a social , alternative , civic , or sustainable bank , is a bank concerned with the social and environmental impacts of its investments and loans. The ethical banking movement includes: ethical investment , impact investment , socially responsible investment, corporate social responsibility , and is also related to such movements as the fair trade movement, ethical consumerism , and social enterprise. Other areas of ethical consumerism, such as fair trade labelling, have comprehensive codes and regulations which must be adhered to in order to be certified. Ethical banking has not developed to this point; because of this it is difficult to create a concrete definition that distinguishes ethical banks from conventional banks. Ethical banks are regulated by the same authorities as traditional banks and have to abide by the same rules.

Why is BNP Paribas the best bank for sustainable finance?

An ethical bankalso known as a socialalternativecivicor sustainable bankis a bank concerned with the social and environmental impacts of its investments and loans. The ethical banking movement includes: ethical investmentimpact investmentsocially responsible investment, corporate social responsibilityand is also related to such movements as the fair trade movement, ethical consumerismand social enterprise.

Other areas of ethical consumerism, such as fair trade labelling, have comprehensive codes and regulations which must be adhered to in order to be certified. Ethical banking has not developed to this point; because of this it is difficult to create a concrete definition that distinguishes ethical banks from conventional banks. Ethical banks are regulated by the same authorities as traditional banks and have to abide by the same rules.

Ethical banks sometimes work with narrower profit margins than traditional ones, and therefore they may have few offices and operate mostly by phone, Internet, or mail. Ethical banking is considered one of several forms of alternative banking. Since old time Christian communities were based on the anti-materialism of Jesusbanking was ethical and any form of «Usura» interest lendingwas considered as immoral. Mainstream financial banks have had varying relationships with corporate social responsibility and ethical investment.

However, a clearer movement has emerged since the s. In general banks play an intermediary role in the economy; because of this the possibility for banks to contribute to sustainable development is extensive. Jeucken Banks have efficient and tested credit approval systems, which gives them a comparative advantage in knowledge regarding sector-specific information, legislation and market developments.

When depositors allow a bank to invest for them they may assume that the bank will attempt to select investments to maximize their returns. However, if clients are concerned with more than the simple monetary return and they, for instance, are interested in the costs to society and to the environment, then they may need to turn to an ethical bank which takes their ethics and morality into account when investing. Some businesses externalize costs onto the environment and society.

Aiming to create a more equitable distribution of costs in society, banks can raise interest rates or apply tariffs on loans given to clients and projects with high external costs. This would mean that companies would pay more if their business caused extensive environmental damage; taking some of the cost off of society as a whole and putting it on the company.

This sort of tariff most ethical investment banks bnp could stimulate the internalization of environmental costs in market prices. But there is a risk that banks could simply adopt certain practices that make them appear ethical see greenwashing while not adopting other practices that would have a greater impact.

Examples include an evaluation of the energy efficiency of a home and potential improvements in this; carbon-offsets; Coro Strandberg credit cards that benefit charities [3] or lower interest rate loans for low emission cars. Ethical banks excel in community involvement, as do other financial institutions such as credit unions. Community involvement is not limited to ethical banks as conventional banks also partake in such actions. The following are a few examples of community involvement done by ethical banks, credit unions, and conventional banks:.

The environment is a key focus for ethical banks as well as for some conventional banks that believe adopting more environmentally ethical practices to be to their advantage. Banks operating in this field are often referred to as sustainable or green banks. In general bankers «consider themselves to be in a relatively environmentally friendly industry in terms of emissions and pollution. However, given their potential exposure to risk, they have been surprisingly slow to examine the environmental performance of their clients.

The kind of analysis that all banks partake in is termed a single bottom line analysis this analysis only considers financial performance. It is arguable whether or not performing a triple bottom line analysis an analysis that takes into account environmental, social, and financial performance would be any more intrusive.

Conventional banks deal with mostly internal ethics, ethical banks add to internal concerns by applying external ethics. Internal ethics are concerned with the well being of employees, employee and customer satisfaction, benefits, wages, unionizationfair sex and race representation, and the banks environmental standing. Environmentally the potential combined effect of banks switching to more environmentally friendly practices i. However, when compared with many other sectors of the economy banks do not incur the same burden of energy, water and paper use.

External ethics are concerned with the wider ramifications of banks actions. External ethics looks at the impacts that their business practices, such as who they loan to or invest in, will have on society and the environment.

In applying external ethics, one looks at how the products of banks can be used unethically, for example how borrowers use the money that is lent out by the bank. Banks are often reluctant to broaden the scope of their external ethical policies because of the significant nature of the changes.

However, by incorporating ethics that account for societal costs in their practices, banks may improve their reputation. Ethical banking is a relatively new sector and this relatively undeveloped nature causes some problems. These problems can be divided into two categories: the first concerns depositors, and the second concerns ethical banks.

In the first category lies the issue of understanding how ethical banks measure or qualify their ethical policies. These claims do not reveal to potential depositors how the bank evaluates or uses these statements. Even when given the opportunity to view an accountability report it is difficult to truly understand what their screening processes are.

Social and environmental risks of larger business banking loans non-credit-scored loans are assessed at the time of the loan application, guided by the Ethical Policy and Most ethical investment banks bnp Policies.

This statement does not give the reader the information they needs to understand the criteria used in assessing clients. Another issue in this category is that of codes of conduct. Many ethical banks as well as conventional banks voluntarily join larger bodies that put forth certain regulations that, according to the rules set by the body, should be followed by members. Such outside bodies could act as overarching institutions that could guarantee a certain level of conformance with certain regulations.

Depositors who use ethical banks do not have this assurance because there is no external regulatory body that sets minimum acceptable legal standards. In the second category ethical banks face obstacles such as losing business and consumer support to conventional banks, and having to regulate above and beyond the present international legal systems.

According to Cowton, C. Thompson, «banks that had signed the United Nations Environment Programme UNEP Statement, a voluntary industry code that promulgated environmental stewardship, transparency, and sustainable development, did not act significantly different than the non-signatories. Both the fair trade movement and ethical banks rely on people to pay extra for known ethical goods. There is a limit to how much more people will pay for that guarantee, after that point further initiatives will undercut the banks income and therefore are likely to not be followed.

Losing business to banks that do not screen so strictly is a problem for ethical banks. Many times ethical banks must work with much lower budgets because of. Ethical banks exclusion of unethical borrowers often results in the borrowers going to other banks, this brings up the importance of industry wide regulations. One way of raising the industry wide regulations would be for citizens to apply pressure on banks.

Without this rise it is difficult to impede unethical businesses from finding a bank to finance their projects. A rise in regulations that deal with moral topics is not out of the question. The current industry wide codes, for example, prohibit the financing of illegal drug production.

This reflects the prominent societal morals against such drugs. Ethical banks cannot solely rely upon the legal system to determine whether or not a potential client has acted unethically or whether or not their future plans are unethical. This is because of the wide range of laws throughout the world.

While a business may be lawful in the international setting, this does not mean that the laws were up to the moral standards in which the bank originates. For example, extensive pollution and labor laws that would not be considered lawful in many developed countries are allowed in many lesser-developed countries.

Claiming to be an «ethical» bank requires an objective way to determine what is ethical. Popular ethical theories that could be used include those of Mill, Kant and Aristotle. John Stuart Mill expanded on Jeremy Bentham ‘s utilitarian theory. Bentham’s fundamental axiom holds «it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong». Mill observed that this axiom alone would allow for actions that lacked morality, in the ethical and even legal sense.

For example, under Bentham’s unqualified fundamental axiom, it would not only be admissible, but «right» to live in a Robin Hood society, where one person’s happiness the robbed rich man’s is sacrificed in favor for the substantially improved happiness of the greatest number. On this account Mill elaborated on the ethical dimension of Utilitarianism, measuring the right- and wrongness of an action both in terms of aggregate happiness, or «utility», following Bentham’s fundamental axiom, but not without disregard of moral or ethical quality of the action.

Therefore, in Mill’s perspective a bank would be moral if it tended «to promote happiness». Because the banking sector is so large, complex and far-reaching in its effects it is difficult to accurately judge the happiness of everyone affected by the conduct of banks in general or by certain banks in particular.

However, it is sometimes possible to discern which of different possible courses of action would produce the most happiness. Similarly lending to businesses that do not «produce the reverse of happiness» p. Given that things such as global warming, air pollution, water contamination, and soil pollution negatively affect large groups of the population, if not all of the population in the case of global warmingbanks that chose to partake in the above examples could be viewed as contributing to the overall happiness of all people and would hence have moral value.

According to Immanuel Kant ‘s Categorical Imperativemorality concerns intentions, and not outcomes. A person is moral insofar as they act with a good will, regardless of the consequences. With this knowledge one could propose that the act of lending money is not in and of itself immoral and according to Kant’s perspective banks should not be judged as moral or immoral based on the outcomes of their lending.

However the second formulation of Kant’s categorical imperative states: «act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end» pg. Based on this formula, one could argue that the whole practice of lending is not ethical, since it treats human persons merely as means to gaining money, ‘mere means’ rather than as ends in themselves.

For Aristotlelawfulness is important in the measurement of morality, as is equality and justice. Whether an action is or is not in accordance with the law is an important measurement of morality for Aristotle.

Many banks do business in accordance with the law in all practices. They may also specifically seek to do business with law-abiding clients. Nevertheless, this can be problematic, as laws vary internationally. This means that a bank could be viewed as ethical even while funding clients who lawfully conduct business in harmful manners. However this measurement is challenged by Aristotle’s statement: «what is just in transactions is something equitable, and what is unjust is something inequitable.

For example, lending to a law-abiding corporation that does not pay its employees a sufficient living wage would be immoral.

Artha stands for generation and sustenance of wealth, including monetary wealth. Kama is related to choices made regarding fulfillment of desires, and Moksha is about spiritual fulfillment. Exploration related to Artha and Kama has to be done within the contexts of Dharma and Moksha.

Moksha is considered the supreme goal. These four are considered to be Purushaartha. Paropakaaraartham Idam Shareeram : The body is meant for the service of the noblest ideas and to contribute to the well-being of all. One argument against regulating banks is that the regulations would violate the proper functioning of the free market economy. Severyn T.

Socially responsible investing at BNP Paribas Fortis Private Banking

Why is BNP Paribas the best bank for sustainable finance? Climate Actions. In order for you to ascertain the real impact of your portfolio, our team will also provide you with: — Detailed diagnosis of your portfolio, — Guidance to eyhical you re-orient your portfolio towards greater impact, — Bespoke counsel on a targeted impact choice. Next article MiFID 2: promoting trust-based relationships with investment clients. The Dire investmenh Portfolio Management offer integrates impact solutions. All the benefits of Premium Digital plus: Convenient access for groups of users Integration with third party platforms and CRM systems Usage based pricing and volume discounts for multiple users Subscription management tools and usage reporting SAML-based single sign on SSO Dedicated account and customer success teams. They link their SRI footprint with local impact by supporting yearly around 20 social projects by being the main financial sponsor of the Venture Philanthropy Fund investmeent the King Baudouin Foundation. WhatsApp Share this page on WhatsApp.