近年來氣候風險議題受到各大企業的重視，本篇論文將研究有關貸款利差與環境績效之間的關聯，並探討銀行有無漂綠的行為。由於2022年，SEC強制要求美國公司發布氣候相關財務揭露，TCFD的討論度也逐年升高，因此本研究將著重在14間有簽署支持TCFD的美國銀行，研究這14間銀行是否會因為借款企業的環境評級而調整其利差，並探討銀行是否利用TCFD漂綠。本論文假設有簽署支持TCFD的銀行通常比起其他銀行更重視環境議題，而影響其貸款合約。借款人將使用S&P500公司，總共有7,031筆樣本，樣本期間為2015年至2021年。研究結果顯示簽署支持TCFD的14家銀行未發現有漂綠的行為，借款人的環境評級分數越高會使得其貸款利差更低。然而，環境評級的範圍很廣，為了要研究是哪一子構面影響了此結果，因此納入了環境的三個子項目，分別有排放、環境創新以及資源利用評級。最後，研究發現三個子項目之評級與貸款利差皆負相關，其中環境創新及資源利用評級最為相關。有簽署支持TCFD的美國銀行皆非常重視環境議題。另外，研究結果還發現公司治理績效愈好與爭議性事件愈少之企業，其貸款利差越低。

The thesis aims to examine the relationship between loan spreads and environmental performance and suggests that banks aren’t greenwashing these days. As the SEC mandates climate-related financial disclosures for U.S. companies in 2022, the discussion of TCFDs is increasing each year. Therefore, the study focusses on TCFD supporters, to examine whether these banks adjust their spreads due to the environmental ratings of their borrowers and whether they greenwash through TCFD. This paper assumes that banks that support TCFD generally place more emphasis on environmental issues than other banks, which affects their loan contracts. By performing ordinary least squares regressions on a sample of 7,301 loans granted to S&P500 companies. The evidence suggests that the 14 banks that support TCFD did not find any greenwashing behavior. Borrowers who had a higher environmental rating resulted in lower loan spreads. However, environmental ratings consist of various core environmental metrics (including emission, environmental innovation, and resource using ratings), and to examine which metrics influence the results, the study uses data of three environmental metrics to analyze. As the result, the study found that the ratings of all three metrics were negatively correlated with loan spreads, with environmental innovation and resource use ratings being more significant. In conclusion, the U.S. banks that have signed on to support the TCFD all place a high priority on environmental issues. Additionally, the study found that corporate who has a better governance performance and fewer controversies issues will have a lower spread.

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