US banks Wells Fargo returned to the bottom of AFII’s quarterly ranking of green/fossil fees this June, with lenders BofA and JP Morgan also dropping lower quarter-on-quarter. In contrast, Goldman Sachs halted its downward trend. European issuers dominated the top of the table, with French bank BNP Paribas at the top-most spot.
In ASEAN, OCBC and DBS Group top the rankings, while SMBC and Bank Mandiri remain at the bottom of the table.
This edition also provides an update to the table of lenders generating fees from issuers potentially exposed to deforestation risk. We find that Citi is the bank that generated the highest fees from these companies last quarter, while Credit Agricole earned the lowest. This suggests Citi may be a good target for engagement activity by investors concerned with deforestation risks.
The Box is an AFII tool investors can use to grade banks based on the bond and loan syndication fees. Using it, they can direct their trading activity towards those counterparties that most closely align with their sustainability objectives, and focus engagement to dealers at the bottom of the list.
