A greater focus on sustainability might have helped a number of banks to survive the financial crisis, which has seen the industry losing an estimated $3 trillion in write-downs. On the other hand, banks and financial institutions that were not known for commitment to sustainability were among the first victims of the crisis.

It appears that in the US, the epicentre of the financial crisis, sustainability was the last thing on the agenda of some of the largest financial institutions in the world. Citigroup is the only US bank making it regularly to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, which assesses companies on rigorous sustainability criteria for annual listing. Bank of America made it to the DJSI only once, in 2002 when the index was launched.

State Street, a financial services firm, is the only US financial firm other than Citigroup that has frequently made it to the DJSI. Both Citigroup and State Street appear to be doing well, though Citigroup needed bail-out money from the US government. Another financial services giant, Merrill Lynch, appeared on the DJSI from 2003 to 2007 before losing its place on the index.

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