...[A] recent report by the Institute for Human Rights and Business...and the United Nations Environment Program explores this growing relationship between human rights and finance. The report, “Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System,” focuses on the need for interaction between the financial system and human rights at three levels.

At the systemic level, it looks at how regulatory players can leverage their power to incorporate human rights. At the client level, it explores how financial institutions can address the human rights impacts of their sovereign and corporate clients’ activities. At the consumer level, it analyzes how the human rights impacts of financial products and services can be effectively addressed. The bottom line: all financial stakeholders acknowledge that inequality creates a risk that impacts society—and that includes the financial sector.