Responsible Investment and Exclusion Criteria: A Case Study from a Catholic Private Bank

Abstract

During the last years, numerous cases of corporate misconduct have undermined public confidence in financial institutions. Especially during the recent economic crisis, the way financial institutes have handled their legal and ethical responsibilities came to be questioned. Dubious customer relation management and inadequate customer information have eroded banks’ reputation. The involvement of large financial institutions in various cases of business fraud during the last years, like insider trading, stock manipulation etc. (see Boatright 2008), has jeopardized the capability of banks for self-limitation and the self-regulation mechanism of markets (Aßländer 2005, Aßländer and Roloff 2004, Thielemann 2005, Thielemann and Ulrich 2003).