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An ethical bank, also known as a social, alternative, civic, or sustainable bank, is a bank concerned with the social and environmental impacts of its investments and loans. The ethical banking movement includes: ethical investment, impact investment, socially responsible investment, corporate social responsibility, and is also related to such movements as the fair trade movement, ethical consumerism, and social enterprise. Other areas, such as fair trade, have comprehensive codes and regulations to which all industries that wish to be certified as fair trade must adhere. Ethical banking has not developed to this point; because of this it is difficult to create a concrete definition distinguishing exactly what it is that sets an ethical bank apart from conventional banks. Ethical banks are regulated by the same authorities as traditional banks and have to abide by the same rules. While there are differences between ethical banks, they do share a common set of principles, the most prominent being transparency and social and/or environmental aims of the projects they finance. Ethical banks sometimes work with narrower profit margins than traditional ones, and therefore they may have few offices and operate mostly by phone, Internet, or mail. Ethical banking is considered one of several forms of alternative banking. ==History== The banking system was born in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, travellers and citizens trusted banks as a mean of protection in troubled times. The first two modern banks were open in Genoa in 1406, Banco San Giorgio and in Florence, Banco Soranza. Since old time Christian communities were based on the anti-materialism of Jesus, banking was ethical and any form of "Usura" (High interest lending), was considered as immoral. In England, King Offa of Mercia in 791, then King Alfred the great (849-899), as well as King Edward the Confessor (1042-1066), made usurers outlaw. Following the defeat of King Harold the 2nd in the Battle of Hastings by King William the Conqueror, a Jews community arrived in England in 1066, from Rouen, France. The role of this community was, in fact, financing the invasion of England. As prize for the help given to the king, they were granted the permission to practice private banking. Due to the very high percentages applied to money and land financing, in 1290 the Jews community was expelled by King Edward I of England (1239-1307). William Cunningham (economist), made a clear point describing the practice of usurers as an obstacle to the development of the British Islands since the 11th century. The development of the changes in the banking system, due to the influx of Jews in Europe, is written by Stephen Goodson, in "Barnes Review". One of the most controversial issue in the 21st century is the role played by finance in wars and revolutions in Middle East and North Africa. Noam Chomsky, mention the Us Dollar as a source of several changes in societies: Currency substitution, and the Islamic banking and finance, are among the reasons for the prolonged destabilization of several developing countries. Mainstream financial banks have had varying relationships with Corporate Social Responsibility and ethical investment. However, a clearer movement has emerged since the 1990s. With changing social demands, and as more is known about the effects that banks can have through their lending policies, banks have begun to feel pressure from the general public, NGOs, governments, regulatory bodies and others to consider their social and environmental impact.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.ftadviser.com/2014/02/10/our-publications/special-reports/ethical-investing-february-EZbKZdRfkCQc36pywl3TLL/article.html )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ethical banking」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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