Ethical banking

An ethical bank, also known as "social", "alternative", "civic" or "sustainable bank", is a bank concerned about the social use of its investments and loans. Although there are differences among the main ethical banks, they share a common set of principles, the most prominent being the transparency and the social or environmental aim of the projects they finance. Some of them are specialized in microcredits.

Ethical banks are regulated by the same authorities as traditional banks and have to abide by the same rules. They have to be distinguished from ethical institutions that provide certain banking services but do not meet the legal definition of bank.

The name of "ethical bank" is somewhat controversial, because it seems to imply that the other banks are not ethical. However, it is the most extended denomination.

Ethical banks sometimes work with narrower profit margins than traditional ones, and therefore they may have few offices and operate mostly by phone, Internet or mail. An extreme case of this is Smile (a subsidiary of Co-operative Bank), the first ethical bank that operates exclusively by Internet, followed by eBay Microplace.

Green ethical banking

Green banking is a subset of ethical banking focused on green energy, to address global warming.

Green banks

* New Resource Bank, USA [http://www.america.gov/st/econ-english/2008/March/20080324153013liameruoy0.1199304.html?CP.rss=trueHi]
* ShoreBank, USA [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24203028/]

Community Development Banks

Community Development Banks, a sub-set of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), are mission-driven and so may be considered "ethical banks". Nationwide, over 1000 CDFIs serve economically distressed communities by providing credit, capital and financial services that are often unavailable from mainstream financial institutions. CDFIs have loaned and invested over billions in our nation’s most distressed communities. Even better, their loans and investments have leveraged billions more dollars from the private sector for development activities in low wealth communities across the nation. [http://www.cdfi.org/]

Ethical banks

English-speaking countries

* Triodos Bank, United Kingdom (also based in The Netherlands, Belgium and Spain).
* Co-operative Bank, United Kingdom.
* Reliance Bank, United Kingdom
* ShoreBank, USA
* RSF Social Finance, San Francisco and New York, USA
* Shared Interest, based in the United Kingdom, investing throughout the developing and developed world.
* Wainwright Bank (USA).

Non-English-speaking countries

* Banca Popolare Etica, based in Italy, with branch in Spain.
* GLS bank, Germany.
* Grupo Financiero FINSOL (Mexico).
* JAK members bank, Sweden, interest-free bank
* La Nef, France.
* Triodos Bank, based in the Netherlands with branches in Belgium, the United Kingdom and Spain.
* Andelskassen Oikos, Danish bank that lends as much as possible out to microfinance in less developed countries

Further reading

* " [http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2001/feb/22/ethicalmoney4 Banking and Credit Cards] ", "Guardian Unlimited", Feb. 22, 2001.
* " [http://www.foe-scotland.org.uk/nation/ethical_money.html How To Guide: Make the Switch to an Ethical Bank] ", Friends of the Earth Scotland
* Ben Cohen and Mal Warwick, "Values-Driven Business", ISBN 1576753581
* Christopher J. Cowton & Paul Thompson, "Do Codes Make a Difference? The Case of Bank Lending and the Environment", "Journal of Business Ethics", v.24, n.2 (March 2000)
* Paul Thompsn & Christopher J. Cowton, "Bringing the Environment into Bank Lending: Implications for Environmental Reporting", "British Accounting Review", v.36, n.2, pp. 197-218 (June 2004).

See also

* Carbon Disclosure Project
* Climate ethics
* Corporate social responsibility
* Equator Principles
* National Venture Capital Association
* Socially responsible investing

External links

* [http://www.febea.org/ FEBEA] , European Federation of Ethical and Alternative Banks
* [http://www.inaise.org/ INAISE] , International Association of Investors in the Social Economy
* [http://www.social-banking.org/en/ Institute for Social Banking - Training and Research]
* [http://www.socialinvest.org/ Social Investment Forum]
* [http://www.moneyfacts.co.uk/ethical/default.aspx Moneyfacts ethical banking information] .
* [http://www.westpac.com.au/internet/publish.nsf/Content/WICR+Sustainability+Reports Westpac] (Australia).

Ethical banks

* [http://www.bancaetica.com Banca Popolare Etica] (It)
* [http://ethics.smile.co.uk/co-op-ethical-policy/ Co-operative Group ethical policy] Smile Bank (The Co-operative Bank).
* [http://www.cultura.no Cultura Bank] , Norway
* [http://jak.se JAK] , Sweden, interest-free bank
* [http://www.merkurbank.dk Merkur Bank] , Denmark
* [http://www.rsfsocialfinance.org/ RSF Social Finance] (USA)
* [http://www.triodos.co.uk/ Triodos Bank, UK]
* [https://www.wainwrightbank.com Wainwright Bank & Trust Company] (USA), ethical bank.
* [https://www.oikos.dk] , Denmark

Specialized green ethical banking

* [http://www.finextra.com/community/fullblog.aspx?id=347 Green banking, ethics and sustainability] .
* [http://www.aboutmyplanet.com/science-technology/green-money-banks/ How Green Are Your Money Mangement Skills?] .
* [http://www.which.co.uk/press/press_topics/product_news/which_money/ethical_banking060607_571_116037.jsp Bank customers keen to be green] .
* [http://www.uswitch.com/news/currentaccounts/JulSep2007/green-banking-options-remain-limited-eiris-says.cmsx?ref=yahoo_com Green banking options remain limited, EIRIS says] .