Within the industry (25 among the largest banks in market capitalization), HSBC is leading the way ahead of ABN AMRO and Bank of America, while US Bancorp and Banco Bilbao occupy the last positions. While global warming offers banks opportunities (carbon emissions reduction plans, investments in renewable energy), it also brings increased scrutiny on their credit policies (environmental risks in project finance).

According to some banking groups, which includes Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank, Citibank, ABN AMRO, Credit Suisse, Dresdner Kleinwort, Fortis and Climate Change Capital, trading activity in voluntary offsets has been hard to verify. In some cases, the credits may have been sold multiple times to different buyers, which risks giving the much broader market a reputation for shoddy practices, suggest media reports.

However, banks show the second best EthicalQuote reputation score from June 2006 to June 2007 compared to nine other industries, states a report released on 29 June 2007 by Geneva-based ethical reputation research firm Covalence, Covalence Banking Industry Report 2007.

Over last year the Banking Industry has witnessed a favorable evolution in the areas of Eco-Innovativeness of its products, Environmental Impact of Production and Social Sponsorship. The reason for this green turmoil amongst various enterprises in the banking industry stems from both the market side (increased consumer demand for Socially Responsible Investment funds, growing attractiveness of investing in renewable energy) and evolving international standards (United Nations Principles for Responsible Investing, UNEP Finance Initiative, Revised Equator Principles).

Traditional banking practices of confidentiality, cautiousness and neutrality are giving way to transparency and direct communications. Nowadays, banks have become quite aggressive in showing the public how they contribute to sustainable development. Corporate Social Responsibility emerges as an important competition factor in the banking industry.

A major ethical risk for banks centers on corruption and transparency issues. Criteria Downsizing also received a significant portion of the ethical demands for the banking industry. Thirdly, while global warming offers banks opportunities (carbon emissions reduction plans, investments in renewable energy), it also brings increased scrutiny on their credit policies (environmental risks in project finance).

Within the industry (25 among the largest banks in market capitalization), the EthicalQuote reputation curves show HSBC leading the way ahead of ABN AMRO and Bank of America, while US Bancorp and Banco Bilbao occupy the last positions. Results representing the Reported Performance of companies (positive news only) place HSBC Holdings in first position, followed by Citigroup, ABN AMRO, and Bank of America, out of the 25 Banking companies.

Reports this week in the media have indicated that a group of major banks including Morgan Stanley and Barclays Capital have proposed tough new standards for the trading of carbon offsets, in a bid to prevent a public backlash against one of the fastest-growing sectors in finance. Environmentalists in the Netherlands have launched a campaign to persuade people to switch to more climate-conscious banks.

A report published by an environmental group alleges that Dutch banks finance more than 594 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually - three times the country's total. Financial giants ABN AMRO and ING/Postbank are labelled the most destructive for the climate, followed by Fortis and Rabobank. The most climate conscious are Triodos Bank and ASN Bank, according to the environmental group.