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LONDON, April 2, 2007-
The Financial Times and IFC today announced the short list of banks nominated for the 2007 FT Sustainable Banking Awards. Selected from 151 entries representing more than 100 banks in 51 countries, the diverse nominees reflect the rising importance of sustainable banking around the world, especially in the emerging markets.
The FT and IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, created the awards to recognize banks that have shown leadership and innovation in integrating social, environmental, and corporate governance objectives into their operations.
The judging panel, which includes leading figures involved in sustainable finance and development, met last week in London to short-list banks for each of the five categories of awards. For the first time, the awards also highlight regional leadership under the Emerging Markets category. The 2007 nominees are:
Sustainable Bank of the Year (5 nominees)
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ABN Amro
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Bank Sarasin
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Barclays
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HSBC
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Standard Chartered Bank
Emerging Markets Sustainable Bank of the Year (8 nominees – two for each region)
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ABN Amro Bank India
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Banco ABN Amro Real, Brazil
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Banco do Brasil, Brazil
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Dexia Banka Slovensko, Slovakia
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DFCU, Uganda
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Industrial Bank, China
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Nedbank, South Africa
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SEB Vilniaus Bankas, Lithuania
Sustainable Bankers of the Year (5 nominees)
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Banco do Brasil, Brazil
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Barclays, United Kingdom
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Center-Invest Bank, Russia
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Citi India
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Compartamos/Banamex, Mexico
Sustainable Deal of the Year
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Deutsche Bank/Goldman Sachs (International Finance Facility for Immunisation)
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Glitnir Bank, Iceland (Geothermal heating system in China)
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Industrial Bank, China (Financing products for energy efficiency projects)
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Kookmin Bank, South Korea (Transit system)
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WestLB, Germany (Industrial waste treatment plant in Mexico)
Achievement in Carbon Finance
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Banco Sumitomo Mitsui Brasileiro, Brazil (CER transaction involving 10 CDM projects)
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Carbon Capital Markets, United Kingdom (Private equity funds)
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Climate Change Capital, United Kingdom (C4F2 carbon fund)
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Innovest/JP Morgan, United States-Canada-United Kingdom (JENI Carbon Beta bond index)
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Raiffeisen Zentralbank, Austria (Nitrous oxide emission reduction project)
The judging panel will meet again in June to pick the winners in each category. Winners will be announced at a special dinner at the Landmark in London on June 7. A major conference on sustainable banking, addressing the views of banks, their stakeholders, and civil society, will take place earlier in the day.
Lionel Barber, Editor of the Financial Times, commented: “The impressive short list reflects the diversity of financial institutions entering the 2007 awards, and we hope the continued growth of this program brings more attention to the issues of sustainability in finance and sparks further discussions on how banks around the world can advance in this area.”
“Consideration of sustainability issues by financial institutions is now moving into the mainstream,” said Lars Thunell, head of IFC. “The number of entries to this competition and the quality of the short list show that more and more banks see the benefits of integrating sustainability into their business.”
The judging panel includes leading figures involved in sustainable finance and development:
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John Willman, U.K. business editor, Financial Times (panel co-chair)
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Lars Thunell, head, IFC (panel co-chair)
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Paul Clements-Hunt, head of unit, United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI)
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Sergio Rosa, chief executive officer, PREVI
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Paul Grimes, chief operating officer, FTSE Group
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Tessa Tennant, cofounder, Association for Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Asia
Leading consultancy Sustainable Finance Ltd. are technical advisers on the awards.
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