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FT Sustainable Banking Awards generate 163 entries from 42 countries’ 117 institutions

13 April 2009 11:36 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Nijat Mustafayev â€“ APA-Economics. The FT Sustainable Banking Awards, the leading global awards for socially and environmentally responsible banking and investment, generated 165 entries from 117 institutions in 42 countries in their fourth year.
This very strong response â€“ including a substantial number of entries from emerging markets banks â€“ underlines the extent to which financial institutions around the world are focusing on environmental, social and corporate governance considerations amid the worst crisis to hit their industry in generations.
The awards â€“ created by the Financial Times and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, to recognise banks and other financial institutions that have shown leadership and innovation in integrating sustainability objectives into their operations â€“ have grown in popularity since their launch in 2006. In the inaugural awards, 98 entries were received from 48 banks in 28 countries.
Entries were received in five categories: Sustainable Bank of the Year, Emerging Markets Sustainable Bank of the Year, Achievement in Basic Needs Financing, Banking at the Bottom of the Pyramid, and Sustainable Investor of the Year. The Award for Achievement in Basic Needs Financing was a new category for the 2009 edition, highlighting the increasing urgency to find solutions to the under-supply of basic needs such as energy, water and food.
The awards for Achievement in Basic Needs Financing, Banking at the Bottom of the Pyramid, and Sustainable Investor of the Year, were open to all financial institutions, including non-banks. The other two categories were open only to banks.
The judging panel will meet this month to select the shortlists of award nominees. Each category will have a shortlist of five finalists â€” except Emerging Markets Sustainable Bank of the Year, where, as in previous years, the winner will be chosen from four banks awarded prizes for regional leadership in Africa/Middle East, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America respectively.
The winners will be announced and the awards presented on June 4, 2009 at a gala dinner at the Renaissance Chancery Court Hotel in London.
The dinner will conclude the 2009 FT Sustainable Banking Conference, the major annual summit on sustainable banking and finance that will gather some of the worldâ€™s most renowned visionaries, strategists and financial decision-makers.