This study analyses the impact of female directors and managers on sustainability performance in the banking industry. Drawing on prior studies, we attempt to frame gender diversity, its determinants, and its consequences with respect to financial, social, and environmental performance. Our sample includes 880 bank‐year observations from 48 countries over the period 2011–2019. We conduct OLS and probit regressions on the panel data sample. The results show that increasing the proportion of female directors also improves the financial and environmental performance; female managers are keener on the social dimension and in engaging with stakeholders, than female directors. This study extends the current literature in the context of the banking industry, suggesting that banks should focus their efforts on establishing the right combination of female directors and managers. Furthermore, practical implications that encourage gender diversity among policy makers and regulators arise from this research.

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This paper investigates the relationship between the environmental policies taken by financial institutions and the choice of depositors on where to save their money. Prior research has shown that increases in the number of customers making deposits are driven by bank pricing policy and switching costs for depositors. By employing a dynamic panel data model, this study empirically tests how environmental performance influences the depositors' choice on where to put their money in a sample of worldwide financial institutions from 2011 to 2018. The main results suggest that there is a negative relationship between banks' environmental performance and customers' deposits. Furthermore, the banks that are the best at managing carbon emissions and at pursuing sustainable development pay lower interest rates on customer deposits.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how banks' climate strategies affect environmental performance. To extend this line of research, the carbon disclosure of worldwide banks is examined. In particular, we focus on specific governance strategies: board of director monitoring and managerial incentives. Panel data are employed on a sample taken from 330 bank-year observations in the period after the financial crisis. The results show an increase in environmental performance through the implementation of managerial incentives related to climate change, associated with the highest level of responsibility of the board of directors. Overall, the present study contributes to both the academic literature and corporate governance, highlighting the importance of banks' business strategy on climate change risks and opportunities with respect to environmental performance goals.

This study investigates how environmental, social, and governance controversies affect bank risk taking. By estimating a dynamic panel data model from 2011 to 2020, we find evidence that banks with fewer ESG controversies take less risk. Banks with a lower number of ESG controversies show their compliance with the implementation of ESG strategies to reduce risk, as evidenced by lower risk-weighted assets and higher Z-scores. The present study supports the recent guidelines on climaterelated and environmental risks published by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and the European Central Bank. Therefore, the main results strengthen the need for the integration not only of social and governance risks but also of climaterelated and environmental risks in banks' risk management framework.