Bank of England warns climate risks to become 'persistent drag' on profitability

Stress tests

James Murray
clock • 8 min read

A top HSBC executive may have downplayed the threat posed by climate risks, but the Bank of England's new stress test exercise suggests financial firms' profits would be hit.

The timing may be entirely coincidental, but it makes it hard not to interpret it as a direct riposte. Just days after HSBC Asset Management's head of responsible investment Stuart Kirk offered a blistering critique of regulatory efforts to enhance the financial sector's climate risk management - "the amount of work these people make me do"; "markets are crashing around our ears today for nothing to do with climate whatsoever"; why are banks "being asked to look at something that is going to happen in 20 and 30 years hence"? - the Bank of England today published the results of its latest ex...

To continue reading this article...

Join Investment Week for free

  • Unlimited access to real-time news, analysis and opinion from the investment industry, including the Sustainable Hub covering fund news from the ESG space
  • Get ahead of regulatory and technological changes affecting fund management
  • Important and breaking news stories selected by the editors delivered straight to your inbox each day
  • Weekly members-only newsletter with exclusive opinion pieces from leading industry experts
  • Be the first to hear about our extensive events schedule and awards programmes

Join now

 

Already an Investment Week
member?

Login

More on ESG

Quilter Cheviot's Claudia Quiroz: Issues for investors as US and Europe ESG divergence widens
ESG

Quilter Cheviot's Claudia Quiroz: Issues for investors as US and Europe ESG divergence widens

DE&I 'in the line of fire'

Claudia Quiroz
clock 16 April 2025 • 4 min read
Circe Invest's Fiona Frick: Investing in a world on edge
ESG

Circe Invest's Fiona Frick: Investing in a world on edge

Investors forced to reassess exposures

Fiona Frick
clock 11 April 2025 • 5 min read
Government offers UK carmakers more wriggle-room to meet EV goals
ESG

Government offers UK carmakers more wriggle-room to meet EV goals

Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate

Michael Holder
clock 07 April 2025 • 9 min read
Trustpilot