Lloyds Bank is leading efforts among UK lenders to provide easier access to financial services for the rising number of refugees in the country, most recently from Afghanistan. But they could do a lot more, as France’s BNP Paribas is showing elsewhere.
The British luxury fashion house was the first of its peers to tap the sustainability bond market. A year on, it has not only met its targets but in some cases gone beyond them. The company’s CFO and head of corporate responsibility explain how.
The A$150bn pension fund is using its financial heft to address modern slavery and has developed a risk-assessment tool to support its reporting requirements. But while some asset managers have shown overwhelming support, others are still burying their heads in the sand.
The private placement from shopping centre operator Emergence Plaza had the advantage of a beneficial economic backdrop and high market liquidity. There is much for potential issuers to learn from only the fourth green corporate bond from sub-Saharan Africa.
The year to date has seen record-breaking support for shareholder resolutions, with asset managers such as BlackRock and Vanguard stepping up their stewardship. However, a lack of data on the real-world impact means the jury is still out on their efficacy.
Some car manufacturers have sold green bonds, but Paris-based Valeo is Europe’s first automotive sector company to target carbon emission reduction along the entire manufacturing chain.
Companies across the globe, from banks to beauty product purveyors, risk losing the best staff if they fail to take account of a new generation of executives' greater ethical awareness and willingness to act on it.
Momentum builds behind the circular economy as investors seek better growth while tackling global challenges, while innovation in this area is de-risking investments and delivering exciting risk-adjusted returns for investors.
The Togo-based group expects its debut sustainable bond and new sustainable finance framework to help it adopt a more climate-friendly strategy and expand SDG-aligned funding across the continent, says chief risk officer Eric Odhiambo.
Turkish manufacturer Arçelik will use proceeds from its debut green bond to address a challenge most companies prefer to ignore. The issue attracted strong investor demand despite domestic economic turbulence.
With many classified funds containing questionable stocks, the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation is upsetting asset managers who feel their focus on impact is being undermined as a result.
Privately owned companies are integrating ESG disclosure into their financing agreements at the fastest rate on record as new sustainability regulations and shifting investor demand push one of the most secret market segments to come out.
The development of new ways to apply sustainable capital is truly exciting, but investors must pay close attention to how new fund offerings are created and the ESG data on which they are predicated.
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