SBA Position Paper on Sustainable Finance

With its diverse range of stakeholders and technical expertise, the Swiss financial system already plays a leading role in the sustainable finance segment. Sustainability is also becoming increasingly important for investors. This area is a strategic priority for the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA), because Switzerland has the potential to become a leading global hub for sustainable finance. At its most recent meeting, the Board of Directors of the SBA determined its position on sustainable finance and set this out in a position paper.

A combination of measures is needed to ensure that the ambitious goal of becoming a leading hub for sustainable investing is achieved. On the one hand, the banks wish to develop their own guidelines for financial intermediaries, i.e. recommendations as to how sustainability criteria can be incorporated into products, services and the advisory process. On the other hand, an additional incentive for clients is to be created by eliminating competitive disadvantages to which sustainable financial products are subject. In existing regulations, for instance for pension funds, negative incentive structures are to be replaced with up-to-date provisions.

However, the Swiss financial sector can only make a multi-layered contribution to sustainability if its expertise can be exported out of Switzerland. Exportability must therefore be improved and market access ensured. Efforts made in isolation are not effective, which is why Switzerland must take international developments into account as part of a coordinated approach.

The SBA is currently working on establishing a rapidly implementable and targeted catalogue of coordinated measures.