Standards for Banking, Capital Markets and Insurance
Standards to drive transparency in financial services
The importance of these Standards
GRI 16: Banking Sector 2027, GRI 17: Capital Markets Sector 2027, and GRI 18: Insurance Sector 2027 fill a gap in the landscape for consistent, comparable and complete information about financial services organizations' sustainability impacts. Critically, the Standards enable financial services organizations to report on the significant impacts associated with their financing and underwriting activities – economic, environmental, and social, including human rights.
Reporting with GRI 16, GRI 17, and GRI 18
The Standards were approved by the GSSB on 17 September 2026 and by the Due Process Oversight Committee on 9 October 2026.
The final approved text of the Standards can be accessed here for GRI 16: Banking Sector 2027, GRI 17: Capital Markets Sector 2027, and GRI 18 Insurance Sector 2027. Official published versions of the Standards will be made available (in English) ahead of the global launch in 2027. If you are interested in supporting translations of the Standard, please contact: [email protected]
The Standards reflect broad stakeholder expectations for transparency and enables financial services organizations to use a common set of metrics to report their impacts. The Standards are used together with the GRI Universal Standards and Topic Standards.
About this project: development of the Standards
The development of these Standards was prioritized by the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB), the independent body responsible for setting the GRI Standards, based on the sectors' central role in the global economy and financial system, connecting them to all other sectors of the real economy and a wide range of impacts on sustainable development.
The Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) appointed three multi-stakeholder Technical Committees to develop Standards for Banking, Capital Markets and Insurance Sector. In addition, an expert group of peer reviewers was engaged throughout the process. The project followed the GSSB Due Process Protocol, the implementation of which is overseen by the GRI Due Process Oversight Committee.
The public comment period for the exposure draft of the Standards ran from 5 March 2025 to 31 May 2025. The Basis for Conclusions for GRI 16, GRI 17, and GRI 18 provides a summary of the significant issues raised during public consultation. A complete record of the received comments can be found here. The basis for conclusions also provides a summary of how the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) responded to the significant issues raised.
For key documents, resources and more, see the list at the bottom of this page.
If you have questions or would like more information about this project, please contact: [email protected].
Project Overview
Q3 2023
Appointment of Technical Committees
Q3 2023 - Q4 2024
Development of exposure draft
Q1 - Q2 2025
Public comment period
Q3 2025 - Q2 2026
Consideration of public comment and revision of standards
Q3 2026
GSSB approval of the Standard
2027
Launch of Standards
Related Documents
| GRI 16 Banking Sector 2027 | file | 11 Oct 2026 | English | 2.9 MB | |
| GRI 17 Capital Markets 2027 | file | 11 Oct 2026 | English | 2.8 MB | |
| GRI 18 Insurance Sector 2027 | file | 11 Oct 2026 | English | 1.5 MB | |
| GRI Sector Standard Project for Financial Services - Basis for Conclusions | file | 12 Oct 2026 | English | 519 KB | |
| GRI Sector Standards Project for Financial Services – Banking exposure draft | file | 20 Feb 2025 | English | 2 MB | |
| GRI Sector Standards Project for Financial Services – Capital Markets exposure draft | file | 20 Feb 2025 | English | 2 MB | |
| GRI Sector Standards Project for Financial Services – Insurance exposure draft | file | 20 Feb 2025 | English | 1.9 MB | |
| GRI Sector Standard Project for Financial Services –Explanatory Memorandum to the exposure drafts for Banking, Capital Markets, and Insurance | file | 14 Feb 2025 | English | 233 KB | |
| GRI Sector Standard Project for Financial Services – Exposure drafts public comment questionnaires | file | 04 Mar 2025 | English | 565 KB | |
| GRI Financial Services Sector Standard project public comment feedback | file | 31 Oct 2025 | English | 1.2 MB | |
| GRI Sector Standard Project for Financial Services - Banking Technical Committee member biographies | file | 08 Jan 2026 | English | 454 KB | |
| GRI - Sector Standards Project for Financial Services - Capital Markets Technical Committee member biographies | file | 21 Aug 2026 | English | 533 KB | |
| GRI Sector Standard Project for Financial Services - Insurance Technical Committee members | file | 02 Apr 2025 | English | 428 KB | |
| GRI Sector Standard Project for Financial Services – External FAQs | file | 28 Feb 2025 | English | 195 KB | |
| GRI Sector Standard project for Financial Services - Project proposal | file | 20 Feb 2023 | English | 288 KB | |
| GRI Sector Program Description | file | 07 Feb 2019 | English | 449 KB |
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