Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

The European Union (EU) has sweeping reforms of financial markets coming into force January 3, 2018. They will affect Wall Street firms in many ways, covering all transactions of EU securities wherever traded worldwide. Whether the firm is on the buy-side: portfolio managers, mutual funds, institutional investors, or on the sell-side: broker-dealers, investment advisors, researchers, consultants, MIFID II will affect business models, research, trading, reporting and order execution.

How does a company or organization develop and sustain successful public-private partnerships to achieve large-scale impact?

Determine when, and how long, to engage: Successful public-private partnership programs are strategic multi-year, multi-phased engagements, not single transactions. It’s important to provide flexibility in the level and length of engagement. But, to have large-scale impact, a core set of partners should be committed for the long-term.

Hurricane Harvey, potentially the costliest disaster in U.S. history, “starkly exposes the colossal financial burden of climate change and its impacts on the economy, the environment and human health,” Ceres said in a statement today.

In addition to addressing the demands of urbanization growth, cities must also prepare for climate-related challenges via developing a resiliency strategy.

Fintech innovation is continually addressing how to improve the way banks serve their customers. As technology shapes how we interact in our daily lives, Scotiabank is committed to collaborate with and seamlessly exceed the needs of their customers to make them better off. Identifying opportunities where fintech can be used to better serve our customers is at the core of Brad Roach’s position as Scotiabank’s Senior Fintech Specialist in Enterprise Innovation in Digital Banking.

The sustainability nonprofit organization Ceres announced today that Target (NYSE: TGT) and U.S. Bank (NYSE: USB) have joined the Ceres Company Network. The Ceres board of directors approved the two new memberships in July.

Eleven local Habitats will receive a grant to implement revitalization projects, including neighborhood beautification and repairs to community common areas. These locations include San Francisco; Denver; Wilmington, Del.; Orlando and West Palm Beach, Fla; Macon, Ga.; Charlotte, N.C.; Harrisburg, Pa.; Rock Hill, S.C.; Houston; and Milwaukee.

The funding also will support two additional Habitat organizations in Santa Ana, Calif. and Savannah, Ga., in their efforts to develop formal plans for future neighborhood revitalization projects.

T. Rowe Price today announced that Maria Elena Drew has joined the firm as director of research, responsible investing. In this role, Maria Elena will deepen the firm’s research on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations and focus on the continued incorporation of ESG analysis into the firm’s investment decisions. ESG considerations are increasingly important to many of the firm’s clients and prospects.

KeyBank Community Development Lending & Investment has provided $30.6 million in financing to the Housing Trust Group of Coconut Grove, FL for the new construction of Princeton Park Apartments, a 150-unit LIHTC affordable apartment property located approximately 25 miles southwest of Miami. Specifically, KeyBank arranged a $23.3 million construction loan and a $7.3 million permanent loan through a Freddie Mac 9% LIHTC Forward Commitment product from its Targeted Affordable Housing platform.

In a research report developed by BNY Mellon and the UN Foundation called “Return on Equality: Investment Opportunities to Help Close the Global Gender Gap,” we highlight a $300 billion market opportunity in taking a products-and-services approach to gender parity.