World's best bank for Corporate Social Responsibility 2017: Bank of America

Corporate social responsibility is becoming increasingly integrated within bank businesses, and no bank demonstrates that as fully in every region of the world as Bank of America.  Anne Finucane is vice-chair and head of the bank’s global environmental, social and governance (ESG) committee, overseeing the $125 billion environmental business initiative, as well as the community development financial institution (CDFI) portfolio and the bank’s charitable foundation. “It’s very clear to us that this is a business opportunity and not just the right thing to do,” says Finucane. 

“Three years ago, I probably fielded a couple of questions from shareholders on ESG. Over the last 12 months, I’ve had about 50 meetings with shareholders. It’s a mandatory part of the conversation around a bank’s risk management.” 

The ESG committee covers all eight business units. Finucane and the bank’s senior ESG officers are part of conversations that span finance, policy, NGO work and the bank’s diversity and inclusion initiatives. 

In finance, it has established itself as the go-to bank for environment-related deals.