More than 50 participants attended the two day annual meeting in Thun. Representatives from banks, governments, academia, civil society, international governmental organizations, law firms, and other business organizations came together to discuss current banking and human rights focus areas with a special attention to key legal and regulatory issues as well as evolving developments pertaining to banking and human rights. The significance of the meeting for advancing, both in formal and informal conversations, the discussion on banks and human rights was widely acknowledged by participants... 

On the current legal and regulatory landscape pertaining to the financial services industry and human rights there was a general acknowledgement of an increased focus towards hard law... It was advised that banks take a proactive approach and establish strong policies and processes that anticipate upcoming binding regulations. 

A further discussion focused on the experiences and approaches of non-financial sector companies and institutions as regards human rights prioritization, remediation, and increasing mandatory regulation. Comments included that investors can play an important role to encourage companies to foster remediation and to work jointly to find a solution...

[Note: See here for a description of the Thun Group, the Annual Meeting 2018 report and a 2017 discussion paper including civil society comments and a response by the group.]