Equator News Coverage
 Environmental standards loom ever larger in banks' lending decisions, by Susanne Bergius, ENDS Report, December 2008
German | English
 60 Second Profile on the Equator Principles, Good Practice Newsletter from ICMM, December 2008
Ecology Stamp on Project Finance, by Susanne Bergius, Handelsblatt, 16 July 2008 (in German)
 Banks increase their environmental requirements
 Promoting Greater Responsibility in Project Financing by Natasha Cappon, Canada, Spring, 2008
 China to bring in green loan benchmark, 25 January, 2008
 A Question of Principles, Infrastructure Magazine, by Kimberley Gaskin, June 2007
 Citigroup to scale up its green spending,The Financial Times, 8 May 2007.
Leaders challenge 'business as usual', Guardian, 6 November 2006
Financial Sector Responsibility
Building a better world (for investors and whales), The Banker, 3 July 2006
Update on the Equator Principles - 2006 Revision, Allens Arthur Robinson, August 2006
The Miami Herald
July 31, 2006.
Building sustainability into syndication, Project Finance - July/August 2006
For Citigroup, Greening Starts With Listening
For people and planet, San Francisco Chronicle, 4 April 2006
Conservation You Can Bank On (Christopher Wright) (PDF - 91k)
'A New Environment', Legal Week 2 February 2006 (Paul Watchman and Charles July of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer) (PDF - 2572k)
'Banks Business and Human Rights' (2006) 2 JIBFL 46 (Paul Watchman of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer) (PDF - 59k)
 Polluters Clean Up Act to Attract Lenders, The Moscow Times, 12 October 2005
The Equator Principles - guidelines for responsible project financing, Focus, Allens Arthur Robinson, August 2005 (PDF - 122k)
Corporate Green, Washington Post, 11 May 2005
Taking The Earth Into Account, Time Europe, 9 May 2005
Principles in Question, The Banker, March 2005 (PDF - 97k)
Banking on the future, Euromoney Syndicated Lending Handbook 2005, December 2004 (PDF - 38k)
A Matter of Principles, Global Finance, January 2005
Principle Finance, Euromoney, October 2004
Putting principles into practice, Environmental Finance, June 2004
'Greening' of financial sector gathering speed, Financial Times, 4 June 2004
"Equator - Risk and Sustainability," from Project Finance International, 2004 Yearbook. (PDF - 429k)
NGOs Bring Bank Scrutiny Back on Track, Ethical Corporation Online, 2 May 2004
Banks contest ban proposed for coal and oil extraction, Financial Times, 5 April 2004
A Matter of Principal, Project Finance, 3 March 2004
The Equator Principles: a milestone or just good PR?, Global Agenda, 26 January 2004
 Mizuho To Adopt Environmental Standards In Project Financing, CNNfn, 26 October 2003
 Dexia adhère aux "Equator principles", La Tribune, 22 September 2003 (in French)
 Western Banks Set Standards for Eco-Friendly Lending. Japanese Banks Far Behind. NGO Keeping Close Watch, Nikkei, 5 September 2003
A point of principle, Global Finance, July 2003
 Equator Principles — Why Indian Banks Too Should be Guided by Them, The Hindu, 25 July 2003
 Project finance — Standards for Lending, Financial Mail, 25 July 2003
Financiers must meet criteria, Business Day, 14 July 2003
Banks agree new loan guidelines, Ethical Performance, July 2003
Principled finance?, Project Finance, June 2003 Cover Story
Banks club together to turn their notes green, The Age, 22 June 2003
Nikkei Financial Daily, 11 June 2003 (in Japanese - PDF)
 Banks' green pledge earns mixed response, swissinfo, 10 June 2003
Greening the banks, The Economist, 7-13 June 2003
Leading banks sign up to project finance principles, Environmental Finance, 6 June 2003
Bancos adotam princípios de responsabilidade social, Valor Econômico, 5 June 2003 (in Portuguese)
Zehn Banken werden zu Umweltschützern, Die Tageszeitung, 5 June 2003 (in German)
 Major Banks Endorse Equator Principles, The Peninsula, Qatar, 5 June 2003
The 'Equator Principles' adopted by leading banks, The Times of India, 5 June 2003
Westpac's principles, Australian Financial Review, 5 June 2003
 Loan rules with an eye on nature, International Herald Tribune, 5 June 2003
10 global banks endorse socially responsible "Equator Principles", Agence France Presse, 5 June 2003
"THE FLIP SIDE", CNN, 4 June 2003 (transcript)
 IFC Head's Remarks at Equator Principles Press Conference, 4 June 2003
Banks sign up for responsible lending accord, Financial Times, 4 June 2003
Banks Accept Environmental Rules, The Wall Street Journal, 4 June 2003
Banks in drive for project principles, Financial Times, 9 April 2003
Four banks adopt IFC agreement, Financial Times, 7 April 2003
Contact
Contact for information
about the Equator Principles
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The
"Equator Principles"
A financial industry benchmark for determining,
assessing and managing social & environmental risk in
project financing
PREAMBLE
Project financing, a method of funding in which the lender looks primarily to the revenues
generated by a single project both as the source of repayment and as security for the
exposure, plays an important role in financing development throughout the world.1 Project
financiers may encounter social and environmental issues that are both complex and
challenging, particularly with respect to projects in the emerging markets.
The Equator Principles Financial Institutions (EPFIs) have consequently adopted these
Principles in order to ensure that the projects we finance are developed in a manner that is
socially responsible and reflect sound environmental management practices. By doing so,
negative impacts on project-affected ecosystems and communities should be avoided where
possible, and if these impacts are unavoidable, they should be reduced, mitigated and/or
compensated for appropriately. We believe that adoption of and adherence to these
Principles offers significant benefits to ourselves, our borrowers and local stakeholders
through our borrowers’ engagement with locally affected communities. We therefore
recognise that our role as financiers affords us opportunities to promote responsible
environmental stewardship and socially responsible development. As such, EPFIs will
consider reviewing these Principles from time-to-time based on implementation experience,
and in order to reflect ongoing learning and emerging good practice.
These Principles are intended to serve as a common baseline and framework for the
implementation by each EPFI of its own internal social and environmental policies,
procedures and standards related to its project financing activities. We will not provide loans
to projects where the borrower will not or is unable to comply with our respective social and
environmental policies and procedures that implement the Equator Principles.
1 Project finance is “a method of funding in which the lender looks primarily to the revenues generated by a single
project, both as the source of repayment and as security for the exposure. This type of financing is usually for large,
complex and expensive installations that might include, for example, power plants, chemical processing plants, mines,
transportation infrastructure, environment, and telecommunications infrastructure. Project finance may take the form of
financing of the construction of a new capital installation, or refinancing of an existing installation, with or without
improvements. In such transactions, the lender is usually paid solely or almost exclusively out of the money generated by
the contracts for the facility’s output, such as the electricity sold by a power plant. The borrower is usually an SPE (Special
Purpose Entity) that is not permitted to perform any function other than developing, owning, and operating the installation.
The consequence is that repayment depends primarily on the project’s cash flow and on the collateral value of the
project’s assets.” Source: Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, International Convergence of Capital Measurement
and Capital Standards ("Basel II"), November 2005. http://www.bis.org/publ/bcbs118.pdf.
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Institutions Which Have Adopted the Equator Principles
Absa Bank Limited
Access Bank
ANZ
Arab African International Bank
ASN Bank NV
Banco Bradesco
Banco de la República Oriental del Uruguay
Banco do Brasil
Banco Galicia
Banco Santander
Bancolombia S.A.
BankMuscat
Bank of America
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ
Barclays plc
BBVA
BES Group
BMO Financial Group
BNP Paribas
Caixa Econômica Federal
Caja Navarra
Calyon
CIBC
CIFI
Citigroup Inc.
CORPBANCA
Credit Suisse Group
Dexia Group
DnB Nor
E+Co
EFIC
EKF
Export Development Canada
FirstRand Bank Ltd
FMO
Fortis Bank Nederland
Fortis Bank NV/SA
HBOS
HSBC Group
HypoVereinsbank
Industrial Bank Co., Ltd
ING Group
Intesa Sanpaolo
Itau Unibanco S/A
JPMorgan Chase
KBC
KfW IPEX-Bank
la Caixa
Lloyds TSB
Manulife
Mizuho Corporate Bank
Millennium bcp
National Australia Bank
Nordea
Nedbank Group
Rabobank Group
RBC
Scotiabank
SEB
Societe Generale
Standard Bank Group
Standard Chartered Bank
SMBC
TD Bank Financial Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland
Wells Fargo & Company
WestLB AG
Westpac Banking Corporation
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World Bank/IFC Links
World Bank Guidelines and Criteria Referenced in the Equator Principles
Development Indicators Database
IFC Guidelines and Policies Referenced in the Equator Principles
Sector-Specific EHS Guidelines
Performance Standards
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