The banking CEO’s outlook on ESG: reducing risks, seizing opportunities

Financial institutions are in a unique position to support sustainability, and stakeholders are pushing them hard to do so. This hands banks a chance to differentiate themselves, expand their product range and increase revenue. In pursuing the opportunity, institutions cannot ignore demands for transparency and accountability around environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters, which are underscored by increasing regulatory demands for disclosure of ESG performance. When preparing for such disclosures, financial institutions face new challenges related to gathering and analysing data to assess the ESG dimensions of assets and investment projects. Even though financial institutions possess massive amounts of information, it is often scattered across different databases, systems and locations, making it hard for stakeholders to access and understand.

 How can banks ensure they are creating viable sustainability models, supported by data? How can financial leaders become more tech-savvy in pursuing their ESG agendas? How are ESG considerations creating new opportunities for financial institutions to generate revenue? What does it mean to achieve transformative sustainability? What challenges remain as banks attempt to champion sustainability, and what new opportunities do these efforts present?