State Attorneys General Take Aim At Banks With Net-Zero Pledges

On October 19, 2022, 19 Republican state attorneys general (the AGs) launched a coordinated investigation by issuing civil investigative demands (CIDs) to six major US banks. The CIDs seek information related to the banks’ membership in the United Nations’ Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) and other climate-related initiatives. The NZBA is an alliance of 120 banks from 41 countries representing 39% of global banking assets. According to the NZBA commitment statement, member banks commit to transitioning […]

By | November 5th, 2022 ||

Global Banks Announce Sustainable STEEL Principles

During the recent NYC Climate Week and under the leadership of RMI, six global banks with almost $23 billion in related loan exposure announced their commitments to the Sustainable STEEL Principles, committing to adopt a common measurement and disclosure framework to support the steel industry in forging a pathway to net-zero carbon emissions.

Modeled on the international shipping industry’s Poseidon Principles framework,1 the Sustainable STEEL Principles framework (Framework) has it signatories commit to following certain climate-related principles. […]

By | November 1st, 2022 ||

Evaluating A Bank’s Interest Rate Swap

A leading national bank (the “Bank”) was sued by a large corporate client (the “Borrower”) that had taken out several loan agreements and an interest rate swap (“IR Swap”) to hedge the floating rate payment risk. A team of experts from FTI Consulting was engaged by the Bank to review the IR Swap and act as an expert witness.
Situation
The Borrower entered a loan with the Bank, which grew significantly through multiple loan agreements and […]

By | September 29th, 2022 ||