Bankers without Boundaries (BwB) was born from the idea that the knowledge and skills of investment bankers could be used to benefit the environment and society. Motivated by the reality that the addressing the climate crisis will require trillions of dollars to transition to new sectors and structures, BwB recruits investment bankers who understand how to execute complex and large-scale financial transactions and has them use their expertise to tackle climate change and other major environmental and social challenges.
The firm’s ethos is similar to that of Médecins Sans Frontières, which provides medical aid where it is most needed. Though headquartered in London, BwB’s reach is global, assisting governments, cities, and foundations around the world to unlock capital for high-impact projects.
The firm was founded in 2013 by Rupesh Madlani, a former number one ranked research analyst, and Angus Forbes, a top-rated hedge fund portfolio manager. A decade later, the team has grown significantly, and BwB has helped mobilise over US$2 billion, working with more than 20 sovereign nations, 110 cities, and a range of corporations.
This success reflects our continual focus on innovation and excellence. As a close partner to the financial ecosystem on both the sell and buy sides, we have successfully leveraged our position in the market to promote areas that have a high degree of positive social and environmental impact.
Climate City Capital Hub
BwB is proud to be working with over 110 cities to develop climate investment plans as part of the EU’s “100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities” mission, which aims to have participating cities achieve climate neutrality by 2030.
A key element of this major climate initiative is the Climate City Capital Hub, which we launched in July this year. The Capital Hub is built around four key attributes:
- Neutral capital centre: The Capital Hub does not preference any funding or financing source over others. It maintains a flexible approach to the best ways of raising capital on a project-by-project basis. This also supports a high degree of adaptability based on geographic location, sector, and city requirements or priorities.
- Data analytics: The Capital Hub uses proprietary tools to identify high-priority projects for investment. These tools include the City Finance Framework, which assesses project aspects such as maturity, financial viability, sectoral relevance, and decarbonisation potential.
- Expert city knowledge: The relationship between investors, municipal officials and key stakeholders is managed by City Finance Specialists, who have deep expertise and knowledge of local financial and regulatory spaces. They play a pivotal role in overall capacity building prior to investment as well as in managing the engagement and investment processes once a project is ‘investment ready’.
- Technical assistance: BwB offers cities technical assistance, which includes analysing opportunities, strengths, weaknesses, and obstacles in the current funding landscape to create a comprehensive ‘state of play’ assessment to guide city climate financing activities and options.
Based on the strong momentum already generated by the Capital Hub, we are currently developing similar bespoke capital hubs in emerging markets, with work underway in Africa and Latin America, for the financing and implementation of high-impact projects in these regions.
We share updates on our activities and news on our website and through our LinkedIn account. Whenever possible, we provide a point of primary contact within the firm for all projects and activities. People can also reach out to us via e-mail: contact@bwb.earth. We are open to discussing opportunities to collaborate with like-minded partners and organisations that are seeking to use innovative financing to make a positive environmental and social difference.
An important aspect of BwB’s corporate culture is to encourage discussion and analysis of groundbreaking financial innovations and the latest climate and sustainability news among our people and with external sector specialists, and to reflect on how these developments could support or impact our work. This keeps our thinking fresh and ensures we approach every project armed with up-to-date information and a creative mindset.
BwB benefits from the active engagement of CCFLA members. By fostering an environment where ideas, knowledge, and experiences are openly shared, we can collectively work towards achieving our common goals. This collaborative approach not only enriches BwB’s knowledge base and understanding but also enhances our ability to develop innovative solutions to challenges. Being part of CCFLA makes us better equipped to meaningfully contribute to the global effort of advancing city-level climate finance.
Our commitment to CCFLA is reflected in our active participation in various events, with BwB team members regularly serving as presenters and speakers, and through our previous role as a co-chair of finance. This engagement provides us with a platform to share our experience and to communicate our transactional capabilities to a broad and diverse audience. By presenting case studies, success stories, and insights from our work, we hope to offer CCFLA members fresh insights into the planning and practicalities of financing climate initiatives at the city level.
Our contributions at CCFLA events also highlight the importance of collaboration between the public and private sectors and the key role of innovative financial mechanisms in achieving climate goals. Through these efforts, we aim to inspire and empower other members to leverage their own expertise and foster greater collective momentum towards achieving sustainable urban development objectives.