Mette Winther-Nielsen - Institute for Social Banking

ISB Book ReviewbyMette Winther NielsenSaturday, 12th of March 2012Certificate in Social BankingAlanus University

Author Background information; Olaf Weber:Born January 27th 1965. Currently Associate Professor and Export DevelopmentCanada Chair in Environmental Finance, University of Waterloo, Canada. Livingin Canada, married, 2 children, and enjoys cycling, football and travelling.Research interests are in the area of environmental and sustainable financewith a focus on sustainable credit risk management, socially responsibleinvestment, social banking and the link between sustainability and financialperformance of enterprises.Educational Training, latest three in reverse chronological order:2004 - Training for members of the board of directors (ZfU Training)2001 - Asset and Liability Management (Raiffeisen Schulung)1997 - Dr. (rer. nat), Artificial Intelligence Group, Technical Faculty, Universityof Bielefeld. Doctoral-Thesis: Integration of Knowledge Modules DuringCredit ManagementProfessional Experience, latest three in reverse chronological order:2009-2010 - President of the board of the Institute for Social Banking,Bochum, Germany2006-2009 - Member of the board of the Institute for Social Banking,Bochum, Germany2004-2009 - Member of the investment board of Care Group AG, Zurich,Switzerland

Author Background information; Sven Remer:Born August 12th 1968. Currently Junior Professor for Social Banking and SocialFinance at Alanus University (60% position) and one of two project leaders fora major research project at Alanus University (40% position) called "Studica",studying a la carte" which intends to develop new, flexible study structures alsofor practitioners - with a focus on "Socially Responsible Banking", and sinceOctober 2011 with a 10% position with the ISB. Living in Cologne, married toan Indian (Prof. for Finance in a German Business School), have a daughter of 3years, who is also his main interestEducational Training, latest three in reverse chronological order:2007 - University of Plymouth, UK, Certificate, European Integrated MastersProgram Tutor Training2006 - Institute for Social Banking, Bochum, Germany, Certificate in SocialBanking and Finance2002 - CASS Business School, Certificate Teaching, Learning, andAssessmentProfessional Experience, latest three in reverse chronological order:2006 - Forum for the Future, London, UK, Research Intern inSustainable Financial Markets Group2001-2005 CASS Business School, London, UK, Researcher and Lecturer1997-1999 KPMG and KPMG Certification, Frankfurt, Germany, Consultant,Trainer and Auditor in Environmental Management

General Positioning of the Book:Contains a complete list of Routledge's international studies in money andbanking prior to the book itself, which contains various chapters abouteverything worth knowing about social banking for the time being, written bydifferent kinds of people, each experts on the field on which they have writtentheir chapter.Key words:Past, present and possible future of Social Banking and FinanceISB Top 50:Definitely yesLink to Social Banking:Absolutely yesDescription on Book Cover and/or Amazon(or the like), incl. feedback:Social Banking describes a way of value-driven banking that has a positivesocial and ecological impact at its heart, as well as its own economicsustainability. Although it has a long and successful history, it has arguablynever been more topical than it is now in the aftermath of the latest financialcrisis. Most Social Banks came out of this crisis not only unscathed but muchstronger and bigger than they were before. And contrary to their conventionalpeers, none of the Social Banks had to be bailed out with public funds. Thisincreasingly attracts the interest not only of clients searching for safe and

sensible ways to deposit their funds but also of conventional banks that beginto understand the potential of a more socially oriented approach towardsbanking.Social Banks and the Future of Sustainable Finance is the first book to deliver acomprehensive and detailed overview about the past, present and possiblefuture of Social and Sustainable Banking for researchers, students and aprofessional audience. The authors are experts from research and practice andhave been involved in Social Banking for many years. Thus they combine stateof-the-artexpertise with valuable insider knowledge.The book covers the following topics: the history of Social Banking, the need forSocial Banking in the current economy, the particular issues of managing aSocial Bank as business enterprise, Social Banking products and services, thespecial role of donations and foundations for financing change, theopportunities and challenges for Social Banks lying ahead, and concretedirections for the future of Social Banking. In addition to these respectiveanalyses are many real-world examples and interviews with representatives ofSocial Banks. As such, this comprehensive collection delivers valuable insightsfor academics, students and professionals who are interested in the growingfield of Social Banking.

Short Table of Contents:1. Social Banking, introduction. Olaf Weber & Sven Remer2. Social Banking, a brief history. Riccardo Milano3. Why do we need social banking. Leonardo Becchetti4. Inside Social Banks. Christina Von Passavant5. Products and services. Olaf Weber6. Financing change through giving and donations; an integral part of socialbanking. Antje Toennis7. Social banking at the crossroads. Sven Remer8. The future of social banking. Olaf WeberShort Description of Content, chapter 7 and 8 (in general; see earlier section ofthis book review Description on Book Cover and/or Amazon(or the like), incl.feedback):Chapter 7; Social banking at the crossroads - a brief description of the Europeanvalue-based banks, their raison d'être due to a main focus on the core functionof banking: an intermediary who transforms and channels money streams fromthose that have spare funds to those that needs funds, and thus significantlyinfluence important developments, including those concerning social, economicand environmental problems. Which most conventional banks have failed topractice having primarily focused on profit maximization by developing evermore profitable products and services to increase/maximize theirshareholders'/owners' financial profit. But due to the latest financial crisis andthe demand for environmental solutions, social

anking is a growing trend and may well - again - be the future of banking.The chapter provides an overview of opportunities and threats, strengths andweaknesses of social banking, substantiated by statements from experts ontheir field of the topics. For example new recruitment and training of staff dueto the rapid growth of social banks.Chapter 8; The future of social banking - a discussion of following themes basedon the remaining chapters of the book, which ends in a conclusion on whatstrategies should be used to secure the future of social banking - in asustainable way both economically and socially:- the size of social banks- future challenges for social banking products and services- future strategies for future clients- the measurement of the impact of social banking- lowering transaction costs- future human resources management- communicating the interaction between social support and financial returns- the growth of social banks - increasing the impact without diluting ethicsMost discussion and concluding of the chapters are based on the knowledge andcompetence of the editors and other experts, tabels and charts are made by theeditors based on hard core, real and historical facts, for example the evidentcontext between deposits and loans in social banks.

Assessment:Negative - there is limited factual knowledge about social banking despite mostof the present value-based banks has been existing for decades, which couldcomplicate illuminating the theme of the bookPositive - but this literary work offers diverse knowledge of the past, present -and an educated guess on how to approach the future - of social banking.Possible Audience:The book delivers competent and valuable insights for academics, students andprofessionals who are interested in the growing field of social banking.Thank you for your attention, and a special thanks to Olaf Weber and SvenRemer for helping me out with some of my work on the review.