finews.com readers sent in their suggestions for the Swiss financial word of the year 2021 to a jury of well-known financial experts. Here is this year's winner.

«Greenwashing» is the Swiss financial word of the year 2021. A five-member jury selected «Greenwashing» as the Swiss financial word of the year 2021 among 250 entries sent in by finews.com readers. The poll was organized by Natixis Investment Managers and finews.ch

The jury consists of finance professor Sita Mazumder, writer Michael Theurillat, fintech entrepreneur Adriano Lucatelli, and Timo H. Paul, Managing Director of Natixis Investment Managers (Switzerland), as well as finews.ch/com founder Claude Baumann.

Sustainability Everywhere

As the coronavirus pandemic broke out, so did the demand for more sustainability in all areas of our lives – including in the financial industry. It is now more important than ever that assets are managed and invested sustainably.

Environment (environment) Social (social) and Governance (good corporate management) criteria are the benchmark for sustainability in finance. Financial institutions define and measure their sustainable investment activities against these so-called ESG indicators. However, an industry-wide standard is yet to exist.

Megatrend's Downside

2021 was the year that the most sustainable investment opportunities were launched. Yet as with every mega-trend, it also has its downsides which is where the term «greenwashing» comes into play. «Greenwashing» is a fraudulent labeling practice that some financial institutions apply to their products.

It occurs when a financial product does not meet the stated sustainability criteria – or simply said – is advertised as being «greener» than it actually is.

Industry's Credibility

Throughout 2021 some reputable financial institutions practiced greenwashing, resulting in enormous reputational damage for these companies. «At the same time, these firms were also accused of putting the credibility of the entire industry at stake,» professor Sita Mazumder said.

Good can be also be derived from this year's finance word: «Greenwashing increases pressure on dishonest companies,» fintech entrepreneur Adriano Lucatelli said, «By exposing greenwashing, financial institutions are held accountable,» he added.

Opportunistic Denial of Truth

Writer Michael Theurillat said the term «greenwashing» represented «an opportunistic denial of the truth,» while Timo H. Paul of Natixis Asset Management said, «The term is also a warning sign for the financial world is not to go down slippery slopes, but to live up to its claim and to not simply pay lip service to its contribution to a more sustainable environment and society.»

«Our actions must be transparent and credible. We owe this to the next generation because in the long term this will achieve more than noisy climate demonstrations,» said Claude Baumann, founder and CEO of finews.ch/com.

In previous years financial words of the year have included: «negative interest rates,» «zero interest rate policy,» «Bitcoin,» and «Libra».


  • This year's winners are: Carola Haefelin, Roger Groebli and Matthias Hunn. They will each receive a magnum bottle of the Spanish top wine Selanques – donated by Vinothek Brancaia in Zurich.