IS SUSTAINABLE BANKING A SOLUTION?

The financial crisis highlighted the negative impact of a damaged banking system on the real economy. In this context, there is a real need for the improvement of the banking system quality, to ensure support for the real economy particularly, this being now the focus of the banking regulation. The question is that a back-to-basics approach that relies on traditional measures of capital strength and liquidity and on traditional products can replace the sophisticated model used by the Global Systemically Important Financial Institutions (GSIFIs). So the question is can sustainable banks which are focused on “people, planet, prosperity”, grounded in communities, serving the real economy, long-term relationships with clients and a direct understanding of their economic activities and the risks involved cope better with a changing environment, innovation and globalisation to ensure a sound banking system?