The Methodology for the 2022 Financial System Benchmark

Financial institutions are key enablers of the economic system. They serve as facilitators and intermediaries for encouraging, mobilising and allocating funds towards their most productive use. They play a critical role in diversifying and mitigating risk. They promote economic growth, drive investment and employ millions of people worldwide.

In 2022 the Financial System Benchmark will assess 400 leading financial institutions (asset owners, asset managers, banks, insurers) on their readiness to address global sustainability transitions and their contribution to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This methodology, which was informed by extensive global consultations, presents the key topics on which stakeholders, including regulators and policymakers, expect financial institutions to act. It entails a set of practical actions, based on the best available science and globally agreed standards on what is expected from financial institutions, including the significant regulatory changes taking place in different parts of the world. As such, the methodology is intended as a system-level tool for regulators and stakeholders to hold financial institutions to account and as a road map that can assist financial institutions in transitioning.