Environmental Social and Governance Factors and Bank Performance: To Be Or Not To Be ESG Compliant?
04 Pubblicazione in atti di convegno
ESG issues have reached the banking industry and forced the sector to question why to be compliant. This paper aims at exploring the relationship between the ESG attitude of banks and their financial performance. Using a regression model on 43 European banks, main findings show significant correlation between ESG and value creation, and no relevant correlation between ESG and market performance. Results support the current banking authorities’ approach, mainly focused on banks ESG risks, which, at this stage, are likely to appear the most significant driver to "force" banks in adopting a new ESG business model.