But they have a paramount role in ensuring that businesses that borrow from them and depend on them for financing understand the risk their business may pose for society and follow a sustainable agenda. So, despite the relatively indirect nature of their environmental and social impacts, banks need to examine the effects of their lending and investment decisions.
In the early 2000s, the Giovannini reports identified 15 barriers to efficient clearing and settlement across national markets in the EU. For quite a long time, there was no progress in removing these barriers. This is about to change significantly with a common settlement platform and a common set of rules.