London / Washington
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September 17, 2006
—The Financial Times, in association with the International Finance Corporation, today launched the 2007 FT Sustainable Banking Awards at the Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund in Singapore.
These awards, now in their second year, were created by the FT and the IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, to recognize banks that have shown leadership and innovation in integrating social, environmental and corporate governance objectives into their operations. The 2006 awards attracted 90 entries from 48 institutions in 28 countries.
Applications are now being accepted for awards in five categories: Sustainable Bank of the Year, Emerging Markets Sustainable Bank of the Year, Sustainable Bankers of the Year, Sustainable Deal of the Year, and Achievement in Carbon Finance. There will be additional awards for regional leadership under the Emerging Markets category. The deadline for entries is February 28, 2007.
Short-listed finalists will be invited to attend a special dinner in London in June, at which the winners will be announced. A conference on sustainable banking, addressing the views of banks, their stakeholders and civil society, is to take place earlier in the day. Both the conference and the awards dinner will be major networking events for the international banking community.
“We were delighted with the response to the inaugural awards and we expect the 2007 program to attract even more interest from banks around the world,” said Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times. “Sustainability has become extremely important to the international banking community, and the FT is pleased to be associated with the IFC in recognizing innovation and achievement in this area.”
Lars Thunell, IFC executive vice president, commented, “Increasingly banks understand the benefits of including sustainability in their business strategy, that is identifying environmental and social risks as well as market-based opportunities. There are many
impressive examples in the OECD countries,
but we would like to strongly encourage banks from the emerging markets to participate in the awards as well.”
Leading consultancy Sustainable Finance Limited is the technical adviser for the awards.
The judging panel includes senior FT and IFC representatives as well as leading figures involved in sustainable finance and development:
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John Willman, UK business editor, Financial Times (panel co-chair)
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Lars Thunell, executive vice president, IFC (panel co-chair)
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Paul Clements-Hunt, head, United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI)
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Paul Grimes, chief operating officer, FTSE Group
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Tessa Tennant, chair, Association for Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Asia (ASrIA)
Entry forms can be obtained at
www.ft.com/sustainablebanking
. This special awards Web site will also act as a reference resource on sustainable banking and provide a forum for discussion, with live Q&As and links to industry experts.
