Gerenciamento do risco socioambiental nas instituições financeiras bancárias no Brasil

This study is based on the conviction that the social-environmental issue is closely related to credit banking activity and is one of the important variables to consider in the financial institutions’ business. The study reveals that banks recognize the financial risk that manifests itself in credit operations to the productive sector, as a result of risks of negative social and environmental impacts in the financed activities. Faced with the need to deal with such risks, social-environmental risk management models have been already adopted by major banking institutions in Brazil. To assess the manner by which the financial sector performs the management of such risks, a sample of six banks was examined representing about 70 % of the credit granted in the National Financial System. From bibliographic survey, official data processing, the study of information disclosed by banks, and conducting interviews and questionnaires, it can be concluded that banks present proactive attitude on the adoption of procedures that can curb environmental damage in economic activities. The mitigation of social and environmental risks, however, is justified as a market need and is restricted to those credit operations whose potential environmental damage are targets for the action of NGOs, the media, or whose financial consequences may affect the credit settlement. Despite taking such proactive attitudes to mitigate environmental risks from a common motivation, banking institutions present very heterogeneous procedures for the management of those risks and need support from bank regulation for definition and standardization of social-environmental risk management models.