Conduct Risk as a Possible Approach for Enhancing ESG-related Risks' Awareness and Management

This study enquires about the role of conduct risk with respect to the currently evolving ESG-related regulation wave. It questions the relevance of conduct risk as an additional determinant of banks’ effective intermediation in the ESG value chain, in addition to normatively set non-financial reporting, governance and due diligence duties. The suitability of a conduct risk-based approach to the identification and management of ESG risks is grounded in the conceptualization of ESG regulations as (sustainable) conduct of business rules centred on the management of ESG risk. This systemic reading of ESG-related rules explains and at the same time supports the main assumption underlying this study, namely that, while setting norms of conduct for the management of sustainability risks, the emerging framework engenders new risks of unsustainable conduct. The analysis finally argues that the flexible and cultural-sensitive nature of conduct risk makes it an effective tool for the forecast, correction and even prevention of potentially harmful misconducts directly stemming from either the missed or wrongful enactment of ESG policies. Ultimately, it is argued that the employment of conduct risk in the field of ESG is useful to re-conceptualise the bank’s internal risk management of inappropriate behaviour, also from a prudential perspective.