Search results

This study aims to investigate the relationship between banks’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) mechanisms at the governance level and their likelihood of pursuing green product strategies. It also examines how CSR characteristics and green product strategies have evolved across regions and time.

Using a sample of listed banks from different economic areas over the period 2010–2019, the authors examine how CSR mechanisms at the governance level and green product strategies, which they categorize through principal component analysis, have changed over time and across regions. The authors then conducted panel regression to identify which CSR characteristics affect the likelihood that banks implement green product strategies.

Results show that CSR mechanisms related to bank transparency and commitment to the community, such as sustainability reporting and United Nations Global Compact adherence, are substantive in affecting the likelihood of banks pursuing green product strategies. In contrast, mechanisms related to internal organization, such as the presence of a CSR Committee and an environmental management team, tend to play more a symbolic role. Findings also support a reconsideration of environmental, social and governance-related compensation schemes, which appear to decrease the likelihood that banks engage in some forms of green financing. The likelihood of banks pursuing green product strategies varies across regions and has increased after the Paris Agreement.

The findings are useful in guiding regulators, supervisory authorities and policymakers in defining policies that can create conditions for banks to develop green products and, hence, encourage the sustainability behaviors of their clients. Empirical evidence reveals that some corporate governance mechanisms and green product strategies correlate positively, institutional factors matter and public policies can play a role in strengthening such a correlation. However, results are limited to specific geographical areas and listed banks.

This study contributes to the institutional literature by showing that some corporate governance mechanisms are substantive in increasing the likelihood of banks pursuing green product strategies, while others are more symbolic. It also extends the literature by analyzing how banks belonging to different geographical areas have responded, over time, to sustainability objectives.

This study aims to examine the relationship between female directors and bank risk. In particular, whether such a relationship varies across sound or unsound banks and with or without a critical mass of female directors is tested.

Using a sample of 215 listed banks from 40 countries over the period 2008–2016, this study carries out panel data analyses and tests all the model specifications on four different measures of risk (common equity ratio, leverage, NPLs ratio and price volatility).

The findings show that increasing the number of female directors does not reduce bank risk when banks are unsound. When banks are sound, female directors have a significant and positive role in reducing risk, only until reaching a critical mass of women.

This study provides useful corporate governance indications for policymakers and practitioners. Advantages of gender diversity on boards are recognized especially in sound banks, but increasing the number of women directors beyond the critical mass may not lead to lower risk. In fact, ethical or legal pressures aimed at increasing gender diversity on boards (i.e. soft or hard gender quotas) may cause undesired effects on bank risk, especially if female directors are not chosen on merit and skills. Moreover, gender-balanced boards, namely, with a “dual critical mass,” seem to assure more effective decision-making processes.

This study provides empirical evidence on female board members and risk minimization, differentiating between sound or unsound banks. Furthermore, this study contributes to the literature on the critical mass of women on the board of directors by testing this theory for these two categories of banks.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the intersection of research on impact investing and its closely related financial vehicles.

The paper explores 196 articles collected from Scopus and Web of Science using bibliometric and content analysis methodologies.

Despite a growing academic interest in impact investing, scholars generally investigate impact investing as a social phenomenon, using the specific financial mechanism of social impact bonds. This perspective potentially deflates the complex nature of impact investing, which actually combines both social and financial targets and uses a plurality of financial vehicles to reach its goals.

The emerging themes identified will provide both academics and practitioners additional tools to further the debate on impact investing and the understanding of its potential and limits according to the different financial forms it takes. This review should pave the way for a discussion about the boundaries of the social impact sector itself.

Despite the strong international commitment toward impact investing, tensions still exist. A comprehensive overview on the relevant aspects not yet thoroughly investigated will foster the growth of impact investments.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first holistic overview of impact investing, that jointly examines both literature on impact investing and literature on the correlated financial products used in the industry. The result is a comprehensive report of what is known about impact investing in its different financial forms, opening up new pathways for future studies.

The authors' paper aims to examine the organizational issues that come from the recent establishment of the compliance function in Italian banks.

The authors' paper takes as a starting point the Bank of Italy's regulations and the existing literature on compliance, in order to create a theoretical model of an efficient internal control system.

For each organizational structure of compliance, the authors' paper describes strengths and weakness. It also outlines the scopes of compliance and internal audit in order to avoid overlaps. Having regard to the similarities between operational risk and compliance risk, the study identifies cooperation areas so as to achieve synergies, in terms of costs, and a better operational efficiency.

The authors' paper focuses mainly on the relationship between compliance, on one side, and internal audit and risk management on the other. It focuses also on the positioning of compliance within the internal control system, as it has been regulated by the Italian disposals. Further research could concern the relationship with other functions and the regulations of other countries.

The authors' paper identifies cooperation forms between the internal control system functions. This is the way to suggest organizational solutions able to improve banking efficiency.

This subject has not been analyzed in depth to date. This article attempts to obtain an identification of the roles and responsibilities of the main functions involved in the internal controls system, in order to define organizational models characterized by complementarity of interventions and thus oriented towards the objectives of effectiveness and efficiency.

The objective of this paper is to highlight the results of a survey on compliance practices in Italian financial institutions (Italian banks and branches in Italy of foreign banks).

The survey is carried out through a structured questionnaire, arranged into several sections: general information on the definition and framework of compliance risk, organizational structure, reporting, culture, purpose and tasks of the compliance staff, assessment of the compliance staff performance and of the risk. The survey is mainly developed on two issues: organizational and risk assessment implications.

It is found that many survey participants are responding positively to regulation developments, since there is a widespread recognition of compliance as a key element for creating value and improving reputation. It is also found that the Italian banks surveyed, whose compliance activities have been usually performed by internal audit, dedicate less attention to compliance matters in comparison with the branches of foreign banks. The institutions interviewed underline the need to have clear guidelines from supervisory authorities, so that they can achieve an effective and efficient management of compliance risk.

This subject has not been analyzed in depth to date. This paper provides a representative view of the management of compliance risk in Italian banks, thanks to the variety of the issues under observation and the size of the sample.