Banco Santander Tops Bloomberg Markets Magazine’s Greenest Banks

NEW YORK — Spain’s Banco Santander prevails as No. 1 in
Bloomberg Markets magazine’s inaugural ranking of the world’s
greenest banks in its May 2011 issue.

Bloomberg Markets is the only magazine for the global financial
elite, providing in-depth and authoritative stories on the
companies and people who move the markets.

Eight of the top 10 banks are based in Europe, mirroring the
European Union’s commitment to curbing emissions through such
efforts as the world’s biggest carbon-trading market.

Santander’s in-house conservation and ecominded investments
brought it to the top, such as arranging a $324 million loan for
a U.S. wind farm developed by BP Plc and Sempra Energy last
year. According to the bank’s global head of power project and
acquisition finance, the bank’s team has closed 40 deals already
this year, 90 percent involving renewable energy.

Investments in clean-energy companies and projects rose 30
percent to a record $243 billion in 2010, according to Bloomberg
New Energy Finance.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. was second overall and topped the list
for green investing. New York-based Goldman, along with No. 4
bank Credit Suisse Group AG, managed the $3 billion initial
public offering of Enel Green Power SpA, Rome-based operator of
wind, geothermal and hydropower plants. Goldman also co-led the
IPO of Tesla Motors Inc., the Palo Alto, California, maker of
the $109,000 all-electric Roadster.

Milan-based UniCredit SpA was No. 3. It arranged $1.4 billion of
loans for wind farms, solar plants and waste-to-energy
generators last year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

To rank banks’ environmental records, Bloomberg Markets magazine
looked at their efforts to reduce their own waste and carbon
footprints and their investment activity in clean energy. Banks
had to be members of predominant national benchmark indexes,
such as Standard & Poor’s 500, FTSE 350 and Nikkei 225. Banks
had to have capitalizations of more than $10 billion and
sufficient information on their environmental activities.

The ranking is particularly timely in light of the nuclear
crisis in Japan and the subsequent scrutiny of renewable energy.
Carbon markets will be a major topic at this week’s Bloomberg
New Energy Finance Summit in New York City, where key issues
facing the clean energy sector will be identified and addressed,
helping decision-makers recognize opportunities that will enable
them to thrive and succeed.

Bloomberg Markets magazine serves the global financial elite,
providing insight and perspective on the companies, trends,
issues and people that move the world’s markets. Bloomberg
Markets readers are the youngest and most affluent among all
financial and business publications. Bloomberg Markets has won
more of the top business and investigative journalism awards in
the past 10 years than its competitors combined.

About Bloomberg

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Contact for Bloomberg

Drew Kerr, +1 212-849-8250, drew@four-corners.com