Sustainability and Financial Crime

Sustainable development promises a wave of new approaches to environmental and social issues due to its perceived holistic nature. New ways of producing and consuming are purported to pave the way for smooth and consensual governance and the reduction of conflicts. The diversion of finance towards sustainable development may also impact on financial crime, at least in the views of optimists who focus on the connections between the two. It is felt that there is no really sustainable finance (the alignment of financial operations with sustainable development) without developing strong and efficient means to fight financial crime. This paper examines such optimistic views, providing, first, an account of institutional strategies relating to sustainable finance, and second, an analysis of some forms of financial crime. Focusing particularly but not exclusively on the UK, a final hypothesis is then formulated around the scenario we are likely to face in the near future if the financial sphere is coopted into the arena of sustainable development.