Environmental, social, and governance factors are increasingly playing an influential role in the underwriting processes of global banks, according to a new report released Tuesday by Fitch Ratings.

Fitch received responses to its survey questionnaire from 182 banking groups, based in 49 countries. In addition, a smaller number of direct telephone interviews took place with predominantly larger banking groups.

Jaclyn Jaeger is a freelance contributor to Compliance Week after working for the company for 15 years. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including ethics and compliance, risk management, legal,...