Banks' Energy Behavior: Impacts of the Disparity in the Quality and Quantity of the Disclosures

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are becoming increasingly relevant for banks as entities that play an essential role in supporting the development of enterprises, individuals and the whole economy. The paper aims to evaluate the impact of the ESC directive on banks' energy behavior disclosures, explicitly relating to behaviors towards energy use and its impact on banks' performance. We developed a methodology to provide the objective characteristic of banks' energy behavior. In the paper, the banks' energy behavior (BEB) index is calculated using sixteen indicators, followed by further analysis of its relationship with banks' performance measured by indexes referring to banks' characteristics, efficiency, and solvency. Our results are based on an analysis of the disclosures in nonfinancial reports. We find correlations that indicate that banks that are more likely to demonstrate energy behaviors (with a high BEB index) are those that better manage their costs and are more attractive for investors. Further analysis suggests that banks' energy behavior has no statistically significant correlation with other performance indicators. We find only limited evidence of statistical associations between energy behavior and the net interest margin. We argue that our results contribute to the significant body of literature supporting the role of ESG in active engagement with energy issues.