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In response to the rapid development of green finance, this study evaluates a systematic literature survey with a focus on the determinants and the potential benefits of corporate engagement in environmentally responsible practices in the context of green bonds and green loans. We show that research has discovered that environmentally responsible practices not only enhance shareholder value but also the value accrued to nonfinancial stakeholders. Further, we provide an updated overview of research developments in relation to green bonds and syndicated loans. Lastly, we discuss the limitations in the nascent green finance research and propose new lines of research supporting our aim of advancing our knowledge of sustainable investments.

We investigate whether cultural differences between professional decision makers affect financial contracts in a large data set of international syndicated bank loans. We find that more culturally distant lead banks offer borrowers smaller loans at a higher interest rate and are more likely to require third-party guarantees. These effects do not disappear following repeated interaction between borrower and lender and are economically sizable: A one-standard-deviation increase in cultural distance, approximately the distance between Canada and the United States or between Japan and South Korea, is associated with a 6.5 basis point higher loan spread; the loan spread increases by about 23 basis points if the bank-firm match involves culturally more distant parties, for example, from Japan and the United States. We also find that cultural differences not only affect the relation between borrower and lender, but also hamper risk sharing between participant banks and culturally distant lead banks. This paper was accepted by Brad Barber, Teck Ho, and Terrance Odean, special issue editors.

The European Union (EU) Taxonomy on Sustainable Activities is one of the most far-reaching financial market regulations to combat climate change. Using international data from the syndicated loan market, we demonstrate that firms with larger EU Taxonomy-eligible revenue shares paid lower interest rates in the years before the formal introduction of the Taxonomy. Business revenue is Taxonomy-eligible if it originates from “transitional activities” that substantially contribute to climate change mitigation. A one-standard-deviation increase in firm revenue from transitional activities is associated with 5 basis points (bp) lower loan spreads (5% relative to the standard deviation). Effects are more pronounced for firms in countries with greater climate risk exposure and more stringent environmental policies, and when lending institutions have green preferences. The effects of transitional revenue do not simply reflect a borrower’s ESG ratings or broad exposure to climate risks and opportunities. Overall, our results indicate that financial markets already priced in some of the intended effects of the Taxonomy.

This article highlights the results of a study investigating whether the growth of syndicated loan activity among US commercial banks was driven by measurable operational cost savings through blockchain-powered back-office automation. Quarterly data from Q1 2010 to Q4 2024 on syndicated loan stocks, commercial and industrial loans, real GDP, bank assets, and non-interest expenses were obtained from the Federal Reserve System’s FRED database. A dummy variable was applied after 2016 to denote the implementation of the first production-level Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) pilots. Using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL) bounds testing approach, evidence of cointegration is found and long-run elasticity is estimated: a steady 1% increase in the volume of syndicated loans reduces the operating expense ratio by 0.147%, which means that almost doubling the volume of loans in the resulting sample leads to approximately 15% structural reduction in the burden on banks’ back offices. The associated error correction model gives a short-run elasticity of –0.276 (i.e., a 1% quarterly shock to loan volume reduces expenses by 0.276 p.p.) and a 47% correction rate to a new equilibrium. Diagnostic tests confirm the absence of sequential correlation and resistance to heteroscedasticity by White’s standard errors. System-wide process improvements were evaluated by examining Hyperledger Fabric’s permissioned channel blockchain, smart contract automation, and multi-signature approval policies, which together simplify Know Your Customer (KYC) document workflows and settlement processes. The findings provide empirical evidence that enterprise DLT platforms deliver significant cost reductions for syndicated loan transactions, with implications for bank, fintech, and regulatory strategies.