Who and where are the Equator Banks? - IILJ
Who and where are the Equator Banks? - IILJ
Who and where are the Equator Banks? - IILJ
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Our survey revealed that <strong>the</strong>re is a vanguard of about four leading <strong>Equator</strong><br />
<strong>Banks</strong>, in terms of <strong>the</strong>ir commitment to <strong>and</strong> development of <strong>the</strong> Principles.<br />
These banks were responsible for drafting <strong>and</strong> negotiating <strong>the</strong> Principles<br />
with <strong>the</strong> IFC. They liaise with each o<strong>the</strong>r on a regular basis <strong>and</strong> <strong>are</strong> at <strong>the</strong><br />
forefront of development of policies <strong>and</strong> procedures.<br />
There follows a chasing pack of banks, which have demonstrated very real<br />
commitment to <strong>the</strong> Principles from top to bottom of <strong>the</strong>ir organisations.<br />
Behind <strong>the</strong> chasing pack <strong>are</strong> some ‘solid citizens’ who, while not leading<br />
<strong>the</strong> way on <strong>the</strong> Principles, never<strong>the</strong>less contribute fully to <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
development.<br />
There is, however, a fourth group of <strong>Equator</strong> <strong>Banks</strong> about which less<br />
positive views <strong>are</strong> expressed by NGOs <strong>and</strong> even by some of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Equator</strong><br />
<strong>Banks</strong> <strong>and</strong> leading non-<strong>Equator</strong> <strong>Banks</strong>. It is said that members of this group<br />
do little project finance work, or have done little more than put <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
adoption of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Equator</strong> Principles on <strong>the</strong>ir websites <strong>and</strong> free-ride on <strong>the</strong><br />
efforts of <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r <strong>Equator</strong> <strong>Banks</strong>.<br />
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Our survey revealed pockets of deep ignorance about <strong>the</strong> Principles, but<br />
also that <strong>the</strong> <strong>Equator</strong> <strong>Banks</strong> <strong>are</strong> putting a great deal of resources, money <strong>and</strong><br />
effort into training staff in order to correct this shortcoming. Former IFC<br />
staff provide much of this training on a consultancy basis. However, several<br />
<strong>Equator</strong> <strong>Banks</strong> have a self-st<strong>and</strong>ing IFC training package which can be run<br />
internally.<br />
Some banks only train very senior people, while o<strong>the</strong>rs put all front-line<br />
staff through <strong>the</strong> programme.<br />
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Some banks already had significant in-house expertise, although usually<br />
only on environmental risk assessment. There is also a wide variation in<br />
numbers of staff deployed on <strong>Equator</strong> work. Some banks only employ a<br />
small specialist unit, while o<strong>the</strong>rs have rapidly exp<strong>and</strong>ed <strong>the</strong>ir teams. There<br />
has been some outside recruitment, but in most cases staff have been<br />
redeployed internally.<br />
Few banks have panels of external expert advisers on social <strong>and</strong><br />
environmental matters, although a small number of <strong>Equator</strong> <strong>Banks</strong><br />
suggested that <strong>the</strong>y had at this stage sufficient expertise in-house to provide<br />
complete coverage of all relevant issues.<br />
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