Abstract
The past 15 years has seen a proliferation of soft law standards aimed at promoting responsible business practice across all types of business sectors, including specifically within the banking and asset management sectors. Amongst this profusion of standards and initiatives, there are arguably three global standards that cut across all sectors and that enjoy prominence amongst those sustainability practitioners looking for international guidance: ISO 26000, the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). This chapter focuses on the potential contribution that ISO 26000 can play in promoting responsible business practice in the investment banking and asset management sectors. After providing a broad introduction to ISO 26000, identifying some suggested unique features that distinguish the standard from other social responsibility initiatives, the chapter reviews how ISO 26000 can and is being used to promote responsible investment practices. The chapter will argue that while these initiatives have a potentially significant role to play in promoting sustainable development, it is critical to recognise their limitations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
ISO is an independent, non-governmental organisation made up of members from the national standards bodies of 164 countries, with a Central Secretariat based in Geneva, Switzerland. ISO is the world’s largest developer of voluntary international standards that provide state-of-the-art specifications for products, services and good practice (http://www.iso.org).
- 2.
This list is a slight rephrasing of that provided in the Scope of ISO 26000 (2010), p. 1.
- 3.
ISO 26000 (2010), Clause 2.18, p. 3.
- 4.
ISO 26000 (2010), Clause 6
- 5.
ISO 26000 (2010), Clause 6.5, pp. 33–40. The five labour ‘issues’ are employment and employment relationships, conditions of work and social protection, social dialogue, health and safety at work and human development and training in the workplace.
- 6.
The list of core international human rights instruments that informed the clause on human rights is provided in Box 6 of the standard; p. 23.
- 7.
The UN Guiding Principles are available at http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GuidingPrinciplesBusinessHR_EN.pdf; although these were agreed after the publication of ISO 26000, there was very close cooperation between the drafters of the human rights section of ISO 26000 and those responsible for developing the UN Guiding Principles developed by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises (Professor John Ruggie).
- 8.
Ward (2011).
- 9.
ISO/TMB AG CSR N32 Recommendations to the ISO Technical Management Board 2(2004-10-21); see also ISO Advisory Group on Social Responsibility (April 2004) Working Report on Social Responsibility. The terms of reference of the Advisory Group were ‘To determine whether ISO should proceed with the development of ISO deliverables in the field of corporate social responsibility; if so to determine the scope of work and the type of deliverable’. The Advisory Group comprised 24 members, plus two representatives of the ISO Secretariat. Members included representatives from standards bodies, industry, academia, nongovernmental organisations, the international trade union movement, the UN Global Compact and the Global Reporting Initiative.
- 10.
ISO/TMB AG CSR N32 Recommendations to the ISO Technical Management Board 2(2004-10-21).
- 11.
ISO/TMB New Work Item Proposal N26000 (2004-10-01), Annex B (f) and Annex A (1).
- 12.
ISO/TMB/WG SR N196 Result of ballot of ISO FDIS 26000. To be approved the ISO standard required at least 66.66Â % of P-members voting in favour of the standard, and not more than 25Â % of total member bodies voting against the standard. The final vote on the standard was 93Â % of P-members in favour and 6Â % of total member bodies voting against. Only 5 P-members voted against the standard: Cuba, India, Luxembourg, Turkey and the USA.
- 13.
ISO Secretary General Rob Steele speaking at the ISO 26000 launch, November 2010 (Geneva).
- 14.
For example, the King III definition of corporate social responsibility draws directly from the ISO 26000 definition of social responsibility (Hanks, J. 2011a, March).
- 15.
Examples of other cross-sectoral standards and initiatives include: the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, AccountAbility’s AA1000 series of standards on accountability and stakeholder engagement, the CERES principles, the EFQM Framework for CSR and Excellence Model, the Ethical Trading Initiative and Social Accountability International (SAI) SA8000 standard (for further examples see, e.g. Annex A of ISO 26000).
- 16.
Principle 3 of the PRI states: ‘We will seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the entities in which we invest’. Suggested actions under the principle include: ‘Ask(ing) for standardised reporting on ESG issues (using tools such as the Global Reporting Initiative)’ and ‘Ask(ing) for information from companies regarding adoption of/adherence to relevant norms, standards, codes of conduct or international initiatives (such as the UN Global Compact)’. http://www.unpri.org/about-pri/the-six-principles/
- 17.
http://www.unglobalcompact.org/ParticipantsAndStakeholders/index.html (Accessed on 30 December 2013).
- 18.
UNGC tools and resources are available at: http://www.unglobalcompact.org/AboutTheGC/tools_resources/general.html. A comprehensive self assessment tool is available at: http://www.globalcompactselfassessment.org/aboutthistool.
- 19.
See, for example, Knight and Smith (2008) and the website Global Compact Critics (http://www.globalcompactcritics.net/).
- 20.
UNGC (2010).
- 21.
Founded in the USA in 1997 by CERES and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the GRI was originally based in Boston, Massachusetts. In 2002, it moved its central office to Amsterdam, where the Secretariat is currently located; it also has regional Focal Points in Australia, Brazil, China, India and the USA. Although the GRI is an independent NGO, it remains a collaborating centre of UNEP and works in cooperation with the UN Global Compact. See http://www.globalreporting.org/.
- 22.
A useful overview of the process involved in establishing the GRI is provided in Brown et al. (2007).
- 23.
These framework documents are supported by a series of learning publications including a step by step handbook introducing the process of reporting (The GRI Sustainability Reporting Cycle: A Handbook for Small and Not-So-Small Organisations) as well as a guide on producing a sustainability report (Let’s Report! Step-by-step Guidance to Prepare a Basic GRI Sustainability Report). See: http://www.globalreporting.org/LearningAndSupport/GRIPublications/LearningPublications/
- 24.
GRI and ISO (2014).
- 25.
GRI and ISO (2014).
- 26.
A more detailed typology for distinguishing between these voluntary SR initiatives is provided in Hanks, J. (2011b).
- 27.
This wording comes from the chapeau to the six principles: http://www.unpri.org/about-pri/the-six-principles/
- 28.
Investec Asset Management Ownership Policy and Proxy Guidelines http://www.investecassetmanagement.com/en/investment-expertise/stewardship/#stewardship
- 29.
The International <IR> Framework (December 2013) states, for example, that ‘<IR> aims to improve the quality of information available to providers of financial capital…’ (p. 2).
- 30.
The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), an initiative that brings together a cross section of representatives from the corporate, accounting, securities, regulatory and standard-setting sectors in response to the recognised need for ‘a concise, clear, comprehensive and comparable integrated reporting framework structured around the organization’s strategic objectives, its governance and business model, and integrating both material financial and non-financial information’. Representatives from both the GRI and the UNGC serve as members of the IIRC Working Group (http://www.theiirc.org).
References
Brown, H., de Jong, M., & Lessidrenska, T. (2007) The rise of the global reporting initiative (GRI) as a case of institutional entrepreneurship. http://www.hks.harvard.edu/m-rcbg/CSRI/publications/workingpaper_36_brown.pdf
GRI & ISO. (2014) GRI G4 Guidelines and ISO 26000:2010. How to use the GRI G4 Guidelines and ISO 26000 in conjunction. Retrieved from http://www.iso.org/iso/iso-gri-26000_2014-01-28.pdf
Hanks, J. (2011a, March). Attention SMOs: ISO 26000 makes good business sense in South Africa. ISOFocus+
Hanks, J. (2011b). ISO 2600 and other standards. In: A. Henriques (Ed.), Understanding ISO 26000: A practical approach to social responsibility. BSI
International Integrated Reporting Council. (2013). The International <IR> Framework. http://www.theiirc.org
ISO 26000. (2010). Guidance on social responsibility. ISO
ISO Advisory Group on Social Responsibility. (2004). Working report on social responsibility. ISO Advisory Group on Social Responsibility
ISO/TMB AG CSR N32. (2004). Recommendations to the ISO Technical Management Board (2004-10-21)
Knight, G., & Smith, J. (2008). The global compact and its critics: Activism, power relations, and corporate social responsibility. In J. Leatherman (Ed.), Discipline and punishment in global politics: Illusions of control. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
UN Global Compact. (2010). An introduction to linkages between UN Global Compact Principles and ISO 26000 core subjects. UN Global Compact
Ward, H. (2011). The ISO 26000 international guidance standard on social responsibility: Implications for public policy and transnational democracy. Theoretical Inquiries in Law, 12(2), 665–718.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hanks, J. (2015). Responsible Investment Banking and Asset Management: Risk Management Frameworks, Soft Law Standards and Positive Impacts. In: Wendt, K. (eds) Responsible Investment Banking. CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10311-2_37
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10311-2_37
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-10310-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-10311-2
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsEconomics and Finance (R0)