Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T15:03:16.299Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4 - Sustainable Finance and Prudential Regulation of Financial Institutions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2020

Paul G. Fisher
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Get access

Summary

Institutional investors channel savings to investments. The chapter looks at banks, insurers and pension funds, and their ability to foster sustainability. Their investment decisions have a crucial role in either making some activities possible or others not. Different institutional institutions, depending on their individual characteristics, operate under different sets of prudential regulation, tailored to their specifics. There is a topical debate on how prudential supervision is best used to foster sustainable investment. The alternative approaches are either a neutral risk-based approach, or one that either incentivises sustainable investments through lower capital charges or penalises ‘brown’ ones through higher charges. Different stakeholders have different thoughts on the best approach, with supervisors generally supporting an orthodox risk-based approach and the investors, while generally supporting the risk-based approach, having some reservations on the issue.The conclusion will be that the risk-based approach will be the sustainable financial approach. After all, rather just a climate catastrophe instead of a climate catastrophe connected to a financial catastrophe.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexander, K. and Fisher, P. (2019), ‘What Happens When Nobody Is Watching: Regulation, Bank Risk Culture and Achieving Environmental Sustainability’. In: Taafe, O. (ed.), Banking on Change, the Development and Future of Financial Services. John Wiley, London, pp. 2742.Google Scholar
Bank of International Settlements (BIS) (2017), ‘Basel III: Finalising Post-Crisis Reforms’. www.bis.org/bcbs/publ/d424.pdf.Google Scholar
Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) (2019), ‘Minimum Capital Requirements for Market Risk’. www.bis.org/bcbs/publ/d457.htm.Google Scholar
BlackRock (2020), ‘Making Sustainability Our Standard’. www.BlackRock.com/us/individual?locale=en_US&switch=y.Google Scholar
Carney, M. (2015) ‘Breaking the Tragedy of the Horizon – Climate Change and Financial Stability’, speech to Lloyd’s of London, September 2015. www.bankofengland.co.uk/speech/2015/breaking-the-tragedy-of-the-horizon-climate-change-and-financial-stability.Google Scholar
European Banking Authority (EBA) (2019), ‘EBA Report on Undue Short-Term Pressure from the Financial Sector on Corporations’. https://eba.europa.eu/eba-calls-banks-consider-long-term-horizons-their-strategies-and-business-activities.Google Scholar
European Banking Federation (EBF) (2017), ‘EBF Report: Towards a Green Finance framework’. www.ebf.eu/ebf-media-centre/towards-a-green-finance-framework.Google Scholar
European Commission (2018), ‘Final Report by the High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance’. https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/180131-sustainable-finance-final-report_en.pdf.Google Scholar
European Commission (EC) (2019), ‘Public Consultation Document Implementing the Final Basel III Reforms in the EU’. https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/business_economy_euro/banking_and_finance/documents/2019-basel-3-consultation-document_en.pdf.Google Scholar
European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) (2018), ‘Sustainable Finance’. https://eiopa.europa.eu/Pages/About-EIOPA/Organisation/Sustainable-Finance-.aspx.Google Scholar
European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) (2019a), ‘Occupational Pensions Stress Test 2019-1’. https://eiopa.europa.eu/Pages/Financial-stability-and-crisis-prevention/Occupational-Pensions-StressTest-2019.aspx.Google Scholar
European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) (2019b), ‘Occupational Pensions Stress Test 2019-2, Opinion on Sustainability within Solvency II’. https://eiopa.europa.eu/Publications/Opinions/2019-09-30%20OpinionSustainabilityWithinSolvencyII.pdf.Google Scholar
European Union (2009), Official Journal of the European Union, L 335, 17 December 2009. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L:2009:335:TOC.Google Scholar
European Union (2013), Official Journal of the European Union, L 176, 27 June 2013. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L:2013:176:TOC.Google Scholar
European Union (2016a), Official Journal of the European Union, L 354, 23 December 2016. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L:2016:354:TOC.Google Scholar
European Union (2016b), Official Journal of the European Union, L 26, 2 February 2016. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L:2016:026:TOC.Google Scholar
van Hulle, K. (2019), Solvency II – Solvency Requirements for EU Insurers – Solvency II Is Good for You. Intersentia, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Insurance Europe (2019a), ‘Insurance Europe Comments to the EIOPA Opinion on Sustainability within Solvency II’. www.insuranceeurope.eu/sites/default/files/attachments/Comments on EIOPA opinion on sustainability within Solvency II.pdf.Google Scholar
Insurance Europe (2019b), Joint IE, PEIF, CFoF, CRoF, Amice Letter to EU Council Presidency. www.verzekeraars.nl/media/6838/joint-ie-peif-cfof-crof-amice-letter-to-eu-council-presidency-20191209.pdf.Google Scholar
International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) (2020), Insurance Capital Standard (ICS). www.iaisweb.org/page/supervisory-material/insurance-capital-standard.Google Scholar
International Organisation of Pension Supervisors (IOPS) (2019), ‘IOPS Supervisory Guidelines on the Integration of ESG Factors in the Investment and Risk Management of Pension Funds’. www.iopsweb.org/iops-supervisory-guidelines-esg-factors.htm.Google Scholar
Mauderer, S. (2019), ‘Scaling Up Green Finance – The Role of Central Banks’, Speech. www.bis.org/review/r190617i.htm.Google Scholar
Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) (2017), ‘Origin and Purpose’. www.ngfs.net/en/about-us/governance/origin-and-purpose.Google Scholar
PensionsEurope (2018), ‘PensionsEurope Paper on Sustainable Finance’. www.pensionseurope.eu/pensionseurope-paper-sustainable-finance.Google Scholar
Sustainable Insurance Forum (SIF) (2016), ‘Promoting Supervisory and Regulatory Leadership on Sustainability Challenges and Opportunities for the Insurance Sector’. www.sustainableinsuranceforum.org.Google Scholar
Sustainable Insurance Forum (SIF) (2017), ‘Leading Insurance Supervisors Support Adoption of Climate Disclosure Recommendations’. http://unepinquiry.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/SIF_TCFD_Statement_July_2017.pdf.Google Scholar
Sustainable Insurance Forum (SIF) and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) (2018), ‘Issues Paper on Climate Change Risks to the Insurance Sector’, International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), Basel.Google Scholar
Sustainable Insurance Forum (SIF) and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) (2019), ‘Draft SIF/IAIS Paper on TCFD Recommendations’. www.iaisweb.org/page/consultations/current-consultations/draft-issues-paper-on-the-implementation-of-the-tcfd-recommendations.Google Scholar
Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) (2017), ‘Final Report: Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures’. www.fsb-tcfd.org/publications.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×