Bankernas börda

: En kvalitativ studie om bankers taxonomirapportering

Abstract

Climate change is a given fact that must be dealt with to create a sustainable society. One part
of this change is the EU's taxonomy regulation, which aims to provide sustainability
information for the banks' investors to make sustainable decisions. The EU taxonomy is a
complex framework that lacks clear standardization for how the banks' reporting should be
done. As a result, the taxonomy reporting is done in different ways, making the comparability
difficult for investors. To design a standardized framework for taxonomy reporting it is
therefore of interest to investigate the reasons behind the differences in taxonomy reporting
between banks, which is the purpose of this study.
The study has adopted a qualitative research method with an abductive approach to explain
why banks' taxonomy reporting differs. The theoretical framework is based on four different
theories: the legitimacy theory, the stakeholder theory, the institutional theory and the
greenwashing theory. In order to collect empirical evidence, interviews and document analysis
have been used as methods.
The results of the study show that the differences in the taxonomy reporting can be based on
various factors, including size, ownership structure, stakeholders and pressure from external parties. The major banks, which are owned by their shareholders, are exposed to much more
expectations and demands from the society, which means that their taxonomy reporting is more
extensive than the reporting of the smaller banks. Banks with a more narrow and specific target
group have a directed taxonomy reporting to fulfill the requirements of the stakeholders.

Date of Award	2024-Jun
Original language	Swedish
Supervisor	Elias Bengtsson (Supervisor), Caroline Pontoppidan (Assessor) & Heléne Tjärnemo (Examiner)