The Box
The Box at AFII is a tool for investors to use in their counterparty selection process to encourage banks to support bond issuance from sustainable borrowers.
On this page, you can interact with the full data and download the latest reports.
For more information see our methodology.
Highlights this quarter
Large global banks remain tilted towards fossil finance, although both fee pools declined quarter-on-quarter. Fossil fees fell 37% and green fees 17%, narrowing the quarterly gap to USD37mn. Over the rolling year, however, fossil fees exceeded green fees by USD29mn, compared with a USD19mn shortfall in the June edition.
The Asia-Pacific picture is more mixed. ASEAN remains net green, but its three-year net balance fell from USD171mn to USD155mn and its weighted ratio eased from 4.6% to 4.2%. In Japan, all 18 banks are net green or neutral in the domestic market.
You can download the reports below.
Dashboard contents
The Box is organised into four dashboards: Global Large, Global Intermediate, ASEAN, and Japan. Users can switch between regions using the tabs provided.
Each dashboard contains a League Tables tab and a Trends tab. The League Tables include the latest data and key findings, while the Trends tab shows historical ranking trends and changes over time.
A Download Report button provides access to the underlying PDF report for more detailed analysis.
The Box provides data on banks' syndication activities, including green and fossil fuel financing, supporting transparency and informed decision-making in fixed income markets.
Background
Banks earn syndication fees for arranging bonds and loans for clients. Using their reputation in the market, banks help to attract investors to new issuances.
Yet this significant fee-generating activity often falls outside the scope of banks' sustainability policies, which tend to focus on direct lending.
Putting a bank “in the box” is a recognised market practice, in which dealers are removed as a trading counterparty, and effectively sanctioned by investors for poor behaviour. Investors can use this approach to promote sustainable business at their banks. By directing business to those banks with syndication activity that aligns with their climate and nature objectives, investors can use their dealings with banks to incentivise change.
Steps for investors
- Generate a league table of banks’ syndication activities, using AFII data or your preferred measure for aligned activities
- Communicate to the bottom tiers that they are ‘at risk’ from fee-generating activity exclusion
- Execute and communicate a de-selection for the poorest performing banks
- After a pre-set period, repeat the process. Feedback, given within single compensation cycles, will better drive short-term behaviour
Deforestation debt
Find out how to apply The Box to engage banks on their deforestation-linked activities.
DEFORESTATION DEBT UNIVERSE
Identifying exposed issuers
ISSUANCE REVIEW
Tables for deforestation-linked syndication fees
