Leading bankers in sustainable finance fear that, despite the advances and the rhetoric, the industry is not moving quickly enough. Euromoney asked 20 regional and global heads of sustainable finance for their views: what the experts think might surprise you.

What needs to happen for sustainability to be adopted by mainstream finance and move beyond the realm of pledges, panels and press releases? The first of our six recommendations is for banks to sign up to the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB).

A $30 billion bond from AbbVie has given US dollar investment-grade corporate debt volumes a boost late in the year, but net issuance is down and the outlook is mixed. Little visibility on large M&A financings is combining with liability management and late-cycle caution to mean that 2020 might be worse

It was a bold call to launch a specialist credit business in Asia in 2009, but SC Lowy celebrates its 10th birthday as an established figure in distressed debt and high yield not just at home but also increasingly in Europe. Events in India, however, where the firm holds a position in Essar Steel, are testing its patience and resolve.

There were times in the late 1970s and 1980s when Japan dominated entire editions of Euromoney. We have seen it rise, fall and stagnate, with plenty of banking adventures and misadventures along the way. Here are some of the highlights of our 50 years of coverage.

The desire to bring secondary-market trading to illiquid private equity is growing.

The failure of the We Company IPO and the poor performance of Uber and Lyft suggest that investment banks have lost their ability to price IPOs. But it also raises deeper questions. Were the elevated paper valuations of private companies a fantasy of wealth creation that could never be realized? Is the new private equity capital market, which seemed to be maturing into institutional-grade infrastructure in the last 18 months, broken?

The SoFi co-founder’s second act involves eliminating ‘rent seekers’ from the capital markets. Securitizing blockchain-originated loans will go some way towards demonstrating if it can be done.

Trade finance and cash management may have come under the spotlight in the last 10 years since the financial crash, but these are businesses that Euromoney has covered since launch, especially focusing on how technology has the potential to transform the sector.

VTB has long lagged state-owned rival Sberbank in terms of profitability, but with sanctions limiting access to capital the pressure is on to close the gap – chairman Andrey Kostin explains why digital transformation and aggressive retail growth hold the key to success for Russia’s second-largest lender.

The EMEA treasury director at CBRE says: 'Treasury can be truly transformed by introducing technology.'

Using a model of up-front financing for large one-off projects, project finance for permanence may be the mechanism that can help reach the goal of 50% of the planet’s natural areas being protected in perpetuity.

The Latin American nation has gone all-out to rebuild its natural environment over the last three decades, with great results – now it needs the rest of the world to pay attention.

Tiny Bhutan has a claim to fame as the first and only country that can claim to be not only carbon neutral but dramatically carbon negative. Conservation is wrapped in with the national ideal of ‘gross national happiness’, a pillar of the country’s constitution and fundamental to national planning.

The Seychelles was the first country to issue a debt-for-nature swap to protect its marine environment; it was also the first to issue a blue bond, raising capital to finance sustainable marine and ocean-related projects. But can it overcome the teething problems and provide a model other island nations can follow?

Euromoney's annual trade finance survey provides quantitative and qualitative analysis of the market and the banks that finance global trade. Results are published January 2020.

The rhino impact bond has sparked excitement that financial tools can play a role in helping Africa conserve its wildlife. As the continent’s population level is set to rise quickly, Euromoney looks at the work being done to connect conservation with economic growth.

Deforestation – and the cattle farming that largely drives it – has caught the world’s attention. While some environmentalists suggest punitive measures to make Brazil a better steward of the forest, there are already more constructive, private-sector responses to the challenge. Can they scale quickly enough to save the Amazon?

Carbon markets, particularly offsets, are shaking off their past and becoming a vital instrument for reaching CO2 reduction goals, protecting and conserving biodiversity at scale, as well as meeting many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. They need to succeed.

Climate is no longer the only risk in town: thanks to a loud call from the scientific community, nature has finally been given a seat at the table with finance ministers, regulators and central bank governors.

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, clean up water supplies, prevent the loss of biodiversity, mitigate fire and flood risk and meet the nutritional requirements of a growing population the world must improve its regenerative and sustainable agricultural practices – new tools and support from the financial services industry are needed to fund that transition.

Euromoney's latest coverage of the benchmark that serves as a reference rate for hundreds of trillions of dollars in financial instruments - and the upcoming transition to new risk-free rates (RFRs).

Fintechs, banks and government are working together to build clever new digital services and boost financial inclusion in a country where millions are unbanked. For now, collaboration is the name of the game.

The country’s risk scores have lagged its central European neighbours since the financial crisis. Is overspending in the mid 2000s entirely to blame, or should the Fidesz government take some responsibility?

In Africa, the more democratic a country is, the higher its Euromoney Country Risk score, but as the continent’s ECR grade stalls, African countries are diverging – politically and economically.

Some uncomfortable conclusions arise from a close look at Euromoney’s country risk data for Asia since 1982. India’s opening has been rewarded with a dismal decline in its score, while the overthrow of local dictators doesn’t appear to do much for economies either.

Singapore’s emergence as a global financial hub is no accident, and has not happened overnight. The key, according to Ravi Menon – the managing director of financial regulator the Monetary Authority of Singapore – is to plan well, act decisively and, above all, listen.

Systemic, contagious sovereign crises seem to have been consigned to history. Governments can raise funds more cheaply than ever and investor demand seems insatiable. But the banking sector remains a source of instability and new threats are emerging, such as trade wars. Is complacency the biggest threat of all?

One country showed the way forward for Latin American sovereigns nearly 35 years ago. Many have tried to follow. Have they succeeded?

Automation and artificial intelligence are transforming the payments industry into one of the most dynamic sectors of transaction banking. But there are still many teething problems in an industry that has been catapulted onto centre stage.