Responsible Finance: A Leitmotif for KfW Financial Sector Promotion

In a globalized world with a high degree of transparency and information flows, socially and morally appropriate behavior is becoming increasingly important for all market participants. Responsible finance has become a catchword in development finance and, in particular, in financial system development. Along with financial sustainability goals, the social return is a factor of growing importance for the decision-making of many finance institutions (double bottom line).

This paper answers the following questions:

• What does responsible finance mean for the stakeholders in the financial sector?
• What role does KfW play in the area of responsible finance?