Banking on a storm: Natwest weathers first of AGM climate rows
Natwest faced a prickly time in its Edinburgh AGM and in this week’s column Samuel Norman looks at whether fun and games could be in store for its peers. Also on the agenda this week – Revolut heads for some Spanish sun.
Natwest chair Rick Haythornthwaite suffered a thorny reception on Tuesday at the bank’s annual general meeting in Edinburgh.
The City veteran, who has a 15-year stint chairing payments giant Mastercard under his belt, was in the hot seat as climate activists disrupted the proceedings, marking a turbulent start to the banking sector’s AGM season.
Trailed ahead of the meeting was a campaign spearheaded by investor activist group Shareaction, seeking to get Natwest to overturn changes to its green policies.
The group called for protest votes against the bank’s board members as it accused the leadership of “backtracking on climate commitments”. A key contention surrounds Natwest dropping its commitment not to lend to any oil and gas companies that lack a credible transition plan or that fail to report their overall carbon emissions.
In the end, the meeting was only adjourned for 15 minutes and Haythornthwaite cruised to reelection with 92 per cent of the vote, a modest dip from 97 per cent last year.
Natwest sets tone for peers
But Natwest’s bumpy AGM, the first of its peers, suggests more banks may be set to run the climate gauntlet.
Natwest is not the first to face AGM heat on its climate policies, nor is it the only bank opting to switch up its climate policies. Over the last year the net zero banking ambition has slowly run out of gas to the point the industry’s net zero club has ceased operations.
Analysts have pointed to reasons across the board for the change of heart. Some suggested the anti-ESG rampage pioneered by Donald Trump’s return to the White House was responsible and others have blamed the very foundations these endeavours were built on in the first place.
Sir Douglas Flint, the former chairman of HSBC has said the piling of funds into green and social policies was a “huge mistake”.
“It became a marketing thing,” he told a City conference last year, “let’s tell everyone we’re saving the world, we’re saving the planet”.
It was HSBC’s (now former) head of responsible investing Stuart Kirk who fired the starting gun on questioning climate investment back in 2022, when he said it was getting “a little bit out of hand”. At the time, HSBC rapidly distanced itself from the comments.
But last year Europe’s biggest lender was forced to slap a 20 year delay on its net zero ambition last year with the reduction in emissions now pencilled in for 2050, more broadly in line with its peers than the previous 2030.
Europe’s biggest lender has already found itself in Shareaction’s crosshairs who last year accused the bank of an “egregious example of backtracking on climate” policies.
And on May 8, when HSBC kicks off its AGM, don’t be surprised to see the group come back for a second bite of the cherry. That’s a fear the bank may already be preparing for with reports last year it was mulling axing in person AGMs amid frustration around disruption from climate protestors. The May AGM is expected to go ahead on a hybrid basis.
But it’s not just Natwest and HSBC in the firing line.
Barclays has faced its own share of scrutiny after its exit from the Net Zero Banking Alliance, while Lloyds has dealt with internal and external friction over changing policies.
More notably coming down the line is the banking watchdog’s requirement for firms to submit an analysis plan for climate risk by the beginning of June. The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has previously admitted there was a “common challenge” of “complexity” for firms assessing their exposure to climate-related risk.
Unrepenting activist groups may not be so forgiving.
Revolut IRL: Sun, sea and high-visibility immersive experiences
Over in the luxury of private markets, Revolut is following in the footsteps of retirement-age Brits by snapping up some sunny Spanish real estate.
The fintech giant has debuted its first physical and permanent presence with a physical store in Barcelona. But the digital bank has insisted that the chosen location – not near its global headquarters of London or European headquarters of Paris – will not host a bank ‘branch’, which it presumably regards as a quaint relic of the financial past.
What services will the world’s first Revolut Store provide? Yet to be confirmed. Though it is being labelled as a “high-visbility, immersive experience”. Revolut has also said it decided to open a physical space to engage with customers because it is what “any other lifestyle brand would do”
In typical Revolut fashion, the firm announced it with the Instagram caption: “Revolut IRL: In Barcelona. Coming Soon.”
So should we expect a Santander-esque work hub, an Apple-inspired minimalist showroom or something that sells branded beachwear to its legion of fintech fans?
Who knows – but don’t rule out a Sandbox VR-style Holodeck that functions as an all-in-one escape room and social hub, where you don haptic suits to navigate your finances in a fully immersive digital world. Oh, and maybe you’ll get the chance to open an account, too.