Ethical banking

Islamic banking

The most known of all types of ethical banking – Islamic. Islam, as well as two other Abrahamic religions – Christianity and Judaism, blames usury therefore in Islamic banks the complex circuits reminding leasing are used. In Saudi Arabia, in the homeland of Islam where there are main Muslim shrines, the volume of finance of halal banks is about 50% of all capitals rotating in the country. In Malaysia Islamic finance makes about a quarter of total amount, the capitals of halal banks are also considerable share in such countries as Turkey, the UAE, Qatar. With a certain share of convention it is possible to rank activity of the Israeli banks as ethical banking. In Judaism usury is considered a sin with one clause: the non Jew under percent is not forbidden to lend. But as in Israel Jews make most of the population, in the Israeli banks the scheme of "eter-claim" submitting the partnership agreement is applied. Separate conversation on the Vatican Dikasteriya of the Roman curia. No specific moral standards in the charter of this bank are regulated, besides, it quite often accuse of money muling of the Italian mafia as Neapolitan and Sicilian "cap" – people religious, and sending by fair work stolen to Vatican for them – a peculiar indulgence^[1].

• Islamic banking (industry of participation financing)

At Buddhists

And here Buddhists in Thailand, Laos and Myanmar invented much more original scheme of crediting. The Buddhism does not prohibit to give money under percent therefore any "bypasses" of usurious schemes as in Islamic and Judaic bankings, it is not provided there. But instead of credit history for the borrower plays a role when crediting its karma. The Buddhist monk Pkhra Subin Panito from Thailand who based the scheme "Sadzha Sas Sab" invented the scheme. To it and also to his followers in the neighboring Laos and Myanmar, the residents of poor rural areas who do not have providing for the credit and, respectively, not having in general any credit history address usually. There is no mysticism, actually, the karma is defined by the loan provider on the basis of reputation of the borrower of which he will knows from community where that lives. Actually Sadzha Sasom Sab is cooperative in which only members of community are accepted.

In Karachay-Cherkessia

Something similar is present also at Russia – the truth, only at one territorial subject of the federation so far: Karachay-Cherkessias. There the local office of Rosselkhozbank does not issue the credits without approval of the Councils of Elders on places. The local management of bank was forced to go to such measure because of increase in number of non-payments of the credits. Sequence of receiving credit following: at first the Council of Elders of the locality estimates each candidate of the borrower, then, in case of the positive solution, submits to it to the head of municipality then – in council of the area, and from there, in case of its positive solution, – to council of the republic. In the next Kabardino-Balkaria of the same scheme the Nalchik bank began to adhere recently. The reason as it is easy to guess, similar: it is a lot of non-returns. As a matter of fact, there is a return to the practice existing in the Russian Empire before revolution: when without the consent of community to which the borrower belonged banks did not issue the credit.

"Green banking"

From ethical banking in traditional sense of determination it is most known, in addition to Islamic, the "green banking" which gained the maximum distribution in the European states, to a lesser extent – in the USA, Canada and Australia. From the name it is possible to guess that it is about ecology and environmental protection. Sense of "green banking" – in reduction of harmful effects on the environment which can result from investment and credit activities of bank. Respectively, "green banks" do not invest means in "brown" projects (i.e. those which can do harm to the environment) and do not issue under them the credits. Besides, the "green bank" tries not to break the activity an ecological situation too. For example, it is provided due to the maximum transfer of banking activities to the Internet whenever possible not to use paper, implementations of energy-saving technologies at offices of bank, reduction of use of cars for moving from one office of bank to another. However, ecologists are skeptical about such measures: according to them, the main criterion of belonging of bank to "green" financial institutions – objects in which banks invest.

Besides, ecologists consider that even preferential crediting at the reduced rates of eco-friendly projects is not enough in order that bank to rank as "green". Among a radical wing of ecological activists there is a popular belief that "green" banks should just refuse flatly crediting of "brown" projects – even at the raised rate. The uniform criterion for reference of banks to "green" does not exist, in difference, for example, from the same Islamic banking. Therefore everything depends and on how itself positioned by this or that bank, and how its activity is estimated by ecologists. The largest banks which management carries them to "green", – the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Asian Development Bank. These banks credit on favorable terms ecological projects, including those that are intended to solve such global problems as climate change and desertification. But it does not mean that they refuse to credit "brown" projects. In Europe the greatest number of the banks positioning themselves as "green" is located in Germany and the Netherlands. In the USA practically each more or less large bank respecting itself implements in the strategy green projects. There are three banks which specialize only in green projects and refuse flatly to credit "brown". It is Green Bank (Texas) with assets about 1 billion US dollars, First Green Bank (Florida) and GreenChoice Bank (Illinois). The American rating agency Bloomberg Markets conducts the bank rating on environmental friendliness made on two indicators: the reduction of negative impact on an ecological situation created due to activity of the bank and volume of crediting of green projects.

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