ESG Colourwashing: Combating Modern-day Corporate Hypocrisy

Timo Matthias Spitzer, Head of Legal Corporate and Investment Banking Germany, Austria, Switzerland & Scandinavia, Banco Santander, SA., Germany

Driven partly by the COVID-19 crisis, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria have gained significant relevance, creating a growing market demand for both ESG-based consumer and investor products. This is the product of a shift in consumer and investor preferences on the one hand, as well as increased political pressures on the other. A company might opt for ESG-compliance out of a sense of moral duty beyond the immediate financial interests of shareholders, thereby focusing on the wellbeing of all stakeholders including the wider society. Nonetheless, rarely are companies truly altruistic. Studies have found that integrating sustainability metrics into a business model more often than not creates real added financial value, betters the working environment and improves the reputation of the company significantly. Some if not most companies are being good, but only insofar as it benefits them financially. This in turn creates a significant moral hazard, where the appearance of ESG compliance could prove more lucrative than actually implementing ESG principles

Timo Matthias Spitzer is an internationally acclaimed and purpose-oriented Head of Legal. He worked at three major banks and three leading international law firms. Timo is dually qualified as Rechtsanwalt (Germany) and Solicitor (England & Wales) with a First Class Honors LL.M. in International Economic Law from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He is a native German, fluent in English, French, Portuguese (Brazil) and Spanish. Timo is currently Banco Santander’s Head of Legal Corporate and Investment Banking for Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Nordic Countries. He is also a Board Member and Adjunct Professor at the Institute for Law and Finance at Goethe University Frankfurt in a global Top 10 Master program for banking, finance and securities law as recognised by LL.M. Guide from 2018 to 2021. Timo is Chairman of The Legal 500 General Counsel Powerlist Germany Advisory Board and a Member of the General Counsel Leadership Circle and Advisory Board Member of the German Institute for Legal Departments and Corporate Lawyers (diruj) as well as of Deutscher AnwaltSpiegel, Business Law Magazine, Going Digital Magazine and Sustainable Value Magazine. He is the author of ’The Importance of Human Leadership with Integrity in a Highly Regulated and Tech-Reliant Corporate Environment