The “Guiding Principles” bring a welcome profile and degree of clarity to the human rights and business agenda. They provide a blueprint for companies to show that they respect human rights, and reduce the risk of causing or contributing to human rights abuses. At the same time, they do not...provide specific guidance for each industrial sector...In support of the “UN Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework” we, the undersigned banks, have been collaborating in reviewing how the Principles may apply within our sector. We are considering the particular challenges we face as universal banks when addressing human rights issues, notably the scope and depth of our human rights-related responsibilities and the due diligence requirements commensurate to these. The outcome of this process will be a practical application guide setting out the challenges and best practice examples.