Over 20 years after microfinance first arrived in Kyrgyzstan, the largest players are transforming into banks to lower funding costs and increase financial inclusion. Can they convince the country’s farmers to put their cash into banks instead of cows?

Triodos Bank is probably the most sustainable bank in the world. Behind every decision it makes – the loans and investments it underwrites, the people it hires, the suppliers it uses, the way it reports and the way it serves its stakeholders – lies sustainability. It also makes a profit. Is it a model for the broader industry?

Any important new market needs its innovators, cheerleaders and pioneers… As banks try to build more responsible and sustainable businesses, these are the champions of impact banking at 10 of the world’s biggest firms. From green and blue finance to financial inclusion and social banking, they are leading the way and setting an agenda for others to follow.

From the United Nations and the European Commission to customers and shareholders, the world’s banks face increasing pressure not only to consider their broader role in society but also to take actions that have a positive impact on it. There is no doubt that most chief executives take this challenge seriously. Whether they take it far enough remains to seen.

The Tropical Landscapes Finance Facility aims to source projects that transform lives and environments, and to securitize the project loans into bonds that will be sold to investors through the MTN markets. It all starts with a rubber plantation in Sumatra.

The first refugee investment impact bond is poised to launch in 2019.

One perk of interviewing banks about sustainable finance has to be the building tours taking in recycled carpets and in-building power plants, but it is not often that you get treated to a rooftop tour of bee hives.

The pitches for the Euromoney Awards for Excellence always provide a revealing window into the inner workings of banks and part of the fun of it all is to separate the grand statements from the reality.

Which banks are doing the most to impress and attract their future employees? A potential young recruit gives her opinion.

The French bank hopes with one small acquisition to burnish its green credentials, meet government requirements on renewable energy and show its potential to adapt disruptive financial technology

As the oceans reach a crisis point, private capital must be deployed to fund sustainable solutions. Given that the seas are equivalent to the world’s seventh largest economy, finance is more aligned with the deep than has been previously recognized. A handful of bankers and investment managers are leading the way, but success will require a collective effort from across the financial industry.

Managed marine protected areas are an effective tool in coastal ocean conservation. They are also ripe to be included in investment structures. The upsides for everyone may help push the protected area of the world’s seas from 2% to 30% by 2030.

Nearly all banks talk about corporate responsibility, few make it integral to the way they work. What sets Bank of America apart is that it has been doing just that for years and this year it receives the award for North America’s best bank for corporate responsibility.

Across every sector and region HSBC stands out for its commitment to developing partnerships and products that will bring finance at scale to create a more sustainable and resilient planet.

With its unique model of direct lending to microfinance institutions and bringing large investors to the table, BNP Paribas has put financial inclusion at the heart of its agenda.

Using its balance sheet to help the transition to net zero emissions, racial equality and economic mobility, while supporting employees through Covid-19 and assisting communities in all markets it operates in, Bank of America has put corporate responsibility at its core.

The breadth and ambition of Santander’s diversity and inclusion programmes set it apart from its peers globally.

When a big US bank joins its peers around the world under an umbrella of responsible banking, it lifts the entire responsibility agenda – and this is exactly what Citi has done as an early signatory to the Principles of Responsible Banking (PRB) of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative.