Natixis is launching a new framework – its Green Weighting Factor – to measure how green its corporate and investment banking products and lending are, affecting the internal risk weightings it applies to loans and potentially staff pay.
“We are going through all our portfolio of loans to have a taxonomy on what is the impact on the climate and some other factors of the loans,” explained Natixis Chief Executive, François Riahi, at the bank’s recent green finance conference in Paris.
Natixis will internally apply a higher risk weighting on loans to high-carbon emission industries, which depresses the return on the capital achieved. Conversely, green loans will get a reduced risk weighting, improving the internal calculation of its profitability.
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For Australia’s infrastructure corporates, a multitude of risks lie on the horizon. Despite boasting years of robust growth, a more subdued outlook emerges for the near-term, driven by increasingly volatile market conditions. And driving growth in the longer term will call for substantial infrastructure investment. It is no surprise, then, that observers might ask: are the country’s corporates well prepared to manage these pressures?
The Global Supply Chain Finance Forum (GSCFF), comprised of BAFT (Bankers Association for Finance & Trade), Euro Banking Association (EBA), Factors Chain International (FCI), International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), and International Trade and Forfaiting Association (ITFA), has released its new guidance document, Market Practices in Supply Chain Finance: Receivables Discounting Technique.
Speaking with Environmental Finance, Orith Azoulay, Natixis’ Global Head of Green and Sustainable Finance, welcomed the European Union’s taxonomy of climate-related activities as “a very positive development and a real milestone for sustainable finance”.
In its most recent expansion move, RedRidge Diligence Services has appointed Tom McClay to its New York office as Director.
S&P Global Ratings has been identified as the “best credit rating agency for integrating sustainability and corporate governance factors” by respondents of the Independent Research in Responsible Investment (IRRI) annual survey. This is the first year of the category’s inclusion.
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) presents significant potential for the future of global trade. And the country’s reliance on the Middle East for oil imports means that there is potential for the region to become key beneficiaries of the ambitious project. This could bring significant benefits to the Middle East, including increased investment, improved infrastructure and an increase in bilateral trade.
Speaking to Insurance Day for their “Big Interview” feature, BPL Global’s Managing Directors Sian Aspinall and James Esdaile explain how the credit and political risk insurance broker’s independence and specialist focus is a competitive advantage in one of the insurance market’s most niche areas.