All public companies could be on the hook for detailing climate-related risks — including those of clients. The data-gathering burden might be especially heavy for banks, industry officials say, because they lend to and invest in so many companies across so many industries.

Sixty-one percent of executives at large U.S. banks said their institution would be prepared to comply with the kind of testing now happening in the U.K., according to a new survey. But experts question whether bankers are underestimating the data-gathering challenges ahead.

The federal government is developing plans to require public companies to notify investors of climate and other environmental, social and governance-related risks. Lenders must take steps to understand the underlying issues and ensure borrowers disclose their own ESG exposures.

It is possible for financial firms to value the future of the planet and lift up marginalized communities while still generating strong returns for shareholders. Here's how.

The largest financial institutions say the agency’s proposal to require public companies to disclose their contributions and vulnerability to climate change is consistent with investor demand. Community banks say it would create an unnecessary regulatory burden.

Fitch says it will be weighing failures of management standards and practices at banks more heavily when considering possible downgrades. ESG advocates are cheering the development.

Mark Carney, a onetime Bank of England governor, argued that banks should not cut ties with polluting businesses, but rather work with clients to help them minimize their impact on the environment.

While the industry is facing greater pressure to scrutinize the environmental risks associated with its financing activities, many banks also sense opportunities in climate change. Here are some examples.

The U.S. unit of Toronto-Dominion Bank plans to invest in CDFIs and specialized funds that serve Black, Hispanic and other diverse business owners in its East Coast territory.

The heads of the six largest banks aimed to promote their COVID-19 relief in testimony to the Banking Committee. Democrats said their efforts were insufficient while Republicans criticized the executives for taking public stances on issues like climate change and voting rights.

Despite concerns about the scope of information that companies would have to provide about risks linked to climate change, some of the largest institutions are seeking to collaborate with the agency as it develops a framework for informing investors.

Last year, many banks made big, splashy pledges to advance racial equity. Now some of those banks are seeking to hold executives accountable for those efforts through their paychecks.

The $1 billion bond, which follows similar issuances by Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Truist Financial, gives a big role to broker-dealers owned by minorities, women and disabled veterans.

The legislation would bar firms that receive government contracts from discriminating against firearms companies. Smaller banks have quietly dropped their opposition in hopes of gaining more municipal bond business.

Texas moved closer to enacting a law that would ban government work with Wall Street banks whose policies restrict the firearms industry, marking a pushback from Republicans in the gun-friendly state against corporations taking sides in America’s political fights.

JPMorgan Chase, the biggest funder of fossil-fuel companies globally, is pledging a 35% reduction in “operational carbon intensity” for its oil and gas portfolio by the end of this decade.

The heads of the biggest banks have a chance to tout the industry's community outreach during the pandemic. But they can also expect tough questions about the Paycheck Protection Program as well as what banks are doing to address climate change, racial inequities and other hot-button issues.

Even though recent shareholder proposals aimed at combating racial inequality did not pass, supporters say they got enough votes to keep the issue front and center.

ESG is here to stay and it matters to investors.

Bank of America and Citigroup, the top two underwriters in the $3.9 trillion municipal bond market, are at risk of getting shut out of Texas because of a push by Republican state lawmakers to punish the banks for their restrictive gun policies.