The Relationship between United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals and Swedish Banks’ Credit Rating of Manufacturing Customers

Abstract: The sustainable development of the section providing financing within Swedish banks are going through major challenges and changes. The United Nations is constantly working on improving sustainable directives within all industries to ultimately reach all 17 sustainable development goals that have been set up for a more sustainable world. Banks are in a unique position where they have a high indirect impact and influence over all other sectors and in relation all 17 sustainable development goals through their business. This can be seen in the two largest sectors within banking, investing and financing. While sustainable investing has been widely researched and developed, sustainable finance can still be considered in an early phase of development. By implementing sustainable factors to the credit management process of borrowers, banks can aid global sustainable development. This thesis has researched the relationship between United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals and the credit rating of four Swedish commercial banks through. Special focus has been given to borrowers in the manufacturing industry. The results show that Swedish banks have initiated sustainable development within their credit rating analysis; however, they are still undergoing continuous improvements and additions. The process and extent of sustainable factors differentiates for all banks. Nonetheless, no bank has a special framework for measuring sustainable risk in the manufacturing industry. Because of the banks’ general process, this thesis concludes that there are no clear advantages nor disadvantages to being sustainable when applying for a loan from Swedish banks. Even though the banks argue that sustainability is both important and included in the credit rating process, the empirical data gathered suggests that the most important and significant factor remains how financially solvent a company is.