Nº 22-25: ESG and Systemic Risk

How do changes in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) scores influence banks’ systemic risk contribution? We document a beneficial impact of the ESG Combined Score and Governance pillar on banks’ contribution to system-wide distress analysing a panel of 367 publicly listed banks from 47 countries over the period 2007-2020. Stakeholder theory and theory relating social performance to expected returns in which enhanced investments in corporate social responsibility mitigate bank specific risks explain our findings. However, only better corporate governance represents a tool in reducing bank interconnectedness and maintaining financial stability. A similar relationship for banks’ exposure to systemic risk is also found. Our findings stress the importance of integrating banks’ ESG disclosure into regulatory authorities’ supervisory mechanisms as qualitative information.