Banks must put ethical principles at the heart of their operations

08.03.12 / Ethical Bank, Ethical Money, Ethical Savings, Impact Investing, investment / Author: Malcolm Hayday / Comments: (1)
Tags: "ethical Banking" "ethical principles" banks 2012

Malcolm Hayday looks at how embracing social values can help banks serve their customers and communities better

Ethical banking has been part of the UK financial landscape for a decade now, but still remains a relatively small niche in the industry. As the country calls for reform of the financial sector, now may be the time for it to come to the fore as the industry standard. read more

When you are asleep, what does your money get up to?

31.01.12 / Ethical Bank, Ethical ISA, Ethical Money, Ethical Savings, Move Your Money UK, Transparency / Author: Mark Howland / Comments: (0)

There are many of us who try hard to do the right thing.  We may buy Fairtrade food, worry about our carbon footprint and recycle our packaging.  Yet most of us have not the slightest idea what our money is doing when we aren’t spending it. read more

Put your money where your mission is: 67% of donors want charities to invest ethically

20.09.11 / Ethical Money, National Ethical Investment Week, Social Investment / Author: Geoff Burnand / Comments: (0)

Another finding from our recent research is that 67% of donors believe the charities they support should invest their own portfolios ethically. More than half of these people felt that this was “very important” and only 8% of respondents believed that it was not very important or not important at all. read more

Do you know what your bank is doing with your money? 78% of us don’t

06.09.11 / Ethical Money, National Ethical Investment Week, Transparency / Author: Mark Howland / Comments: (2)

At Charity Bank, one of our most important principles is that our customers know what we do with their money.  We publish details of every loan we make and encourage people to see for themselves the good that their money is doing while it earns them interest. To find out whether information sharing is becoming more widespread within the industry, Charity Bank commissioned research from market research specialists Vision Critical who conducted a poll of more than 2,000 UK adults.

The research revealed that 78% of Britons don’t know how or where their savings are invested. At the same time, the research also showed that more than half (51%) of those surveyed do care where their ISA deposits are invested. read more

Measuring social impact – why good intentions are no longer enough

02.06.11 / Ethical Money, Impact Investing, Social Enterprise, Social Investment, Transparency / Author: Geoff Burnand / Comments: (2)

When making an investment, the rate of financial return will naturally be of interest to an investor.  However, with an increasing number of social and environmental issues affecting our communities, the purely traditional approach is no longer acceptable.  Geoff Burnand argues that as investors’ knowledge and desire for information increases, charities and mission-driven organisations need to look at their reporting capabilities. read more

Charity Bank Open Day: Pioneers and adventurers in the world of social finance

20.05.11 / Big Society, Ethical Money, Social Banking, Social Enterprise, Social Investment, Transparency / Author: Mark Howland / Comments: (0)

Charity Bank’s Open Day took place yesterday in the beautiful former church of St Lukes in Old Street, London and was once again facilitated energetically and professionally by Peter Woodward, who kept the conversation flowing between the panels and the delegates.

The theme of this year’s Open Day was Making Good Society and Charity Bank’s part in working to achieve this.  The topics covered ranged from Charity Bank’s role in society, how we can work with the Big Society Bank to methodologies for measuring social impact. read more

Money rules the world – who rules the money?

13.04.11 / Ethical Money, Social Banking / Author: Mark Howland / Comments: (0)

“Money rules the world – who rules the money?”  This is the question we will be putting at the 4th International Summer School on Social Banking, due to take place in Canterbury, Kent  from 3rd to 8th July 2011.  The event, jointly hosted by Charity Bank and the Institute for Social Banking, will address the question through seminars and workshops dedicated to considering the changing role of money and investment around the world. read more

You may live ethically, but what does your cash get up to?

25.03.11 / Ethical Money, Transparency / Author: Malcolm Hayday / Comments: (0)

Malcolm Hayday, chief executive of Charity Bank, is interviewed in The Times newspaper today about keeping true to core values.

Do you buy Fairtrade food? Make an effort to recycle? Worry about whether your clothes were made by child labourers? Then Malcolm Hayday has a challenge for you: go in to your bank and ask what your cash was up to last night. Although he warns that it probably won’t know.

“It is all grossed up and netted out at the Treasury end of the operation and put back into the money markets,” Mr Hayday says. There is no transparency about where your money is actually working. This means there may be occasions when it is being used in a way that runs contrary to your value set. read more