On 9th November, Greenpeace Luxembourg issued the study « Climate-friendly investments – An advisory check at Luxembourg banks » which was developed in collaboration with the consulting firm Nextra.
This study consisted on a mystery shopping excursive where a total of 19 Mystery Shoppers attended 27 consultation interviews in six different financial institutions. The objective was to look at and find out how well Luxembourg banks advise their clients on climate-friendly investments. According to the study result: the test clients were recommended investment products as climate-friendly, which are not compatible with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. In addition, the study mentions considerable weaknesses regarding the transparency of the products offered and the expertise of the advisors.
The Luxembourg Bankers’ Associations (ABBL) issued on 10th November a response statement where they explain that the findings of the above-mention study should be reviewed as they focus only on the implementation of the Paris Agreement, which does not correspond to the regulatory requirements to which asset managers and banks are subject. In particular, the ABBL commented that the methodology used in this study is not based on the precise definitions of the European regulations currently in place, such as the notion of client preferences in terms of sustainability, which goes beyond climatic aspects. The ABBL also commented that both them and their members are doing their utmost to serve the cause of sustainable development by promoting both training for bank advisors and raising public awareness of the positive impacts that investments in sustainable finance can have.
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