MATTER OF PRINCIPLE

摘要

Voluntary standards do not have a good reputation in the financial services industry. Generally drafted by the same practitioners that are expected to abide by them, they have been widely criticised for being light-touch without any real teeth, and have been cast as indirectly responsible for the multiple conduct scandals that have come to light in recent years. It may seem surprising, then, that as the burgeoning Green bond market has evolved, its protagonists have put their faith in a short set of voluntary principles as the central mechanism to protect the interests of investors and support the further growth of the market. It is, however, the simplicity and lack of statutory clout that gives the so-called Green Bond Principles (GBP) their inherent value, according to those that drafted them.