Two years on from Bank of America and Crédit Agricole making their first policy moves to distance themselves from the coal mining sector, we can now count 22 western banks which have followed them in the lead up to, and beyond, the Paris COP21 meeting in December 2015. The Swiss members of this pack, the global giants Credit Suisse and UBS, last month published the latest updates to their coal sector policies. Disappointingly, however, both banks have ducked their chance with these policy reviews and find themselves still lagging behind…

Just like a homeowner might refinance their mortgage, when a company refinances its debt, it can replace its agreement with the banks with a new deal that may prove more favorable to the company, or extend the length of the deal. On March 24, 2017, Energy Transfer Equity (ETE) -- parent of the family of companies behind the disastrous Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) -- refinanced its credit agreement, essentially meaning a new credit agreement was signed. So, this was a test for the big banks, to see if they’ve learned any lessons after all…