Sustainable Banking: The Commercial and Legal Impacts of Private Self-Regulatory Initiatives

This article identifies the two dimensions of sustainable banking, namely the financial and environmental aspects. Due to the extensive coverage of the former dimension in the context of the current global financial crisis, this article focuses on the latter aspect in the context of the Equator Principles. The discussion revisits the rationale for the emergence of these principles as a global private initiative to address the concerns of environmental degradation. It also touches on its commercial impacts and wider legal implications.