An article by Prof Brendan O'Dwyer and PhD candidate Niamh O'Sullivan of the Amsterdam Business School's Accounting Section, has won the 2010 French Social Investment Forum (SIF) award for best European published academic article on sustainable finance.

The article, Stakeholder Perspectives on a Financial Sector Legitimation Process: The Case of NGOs and the Equator Principles, was published in Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal in May, 2009. It examines the legitimation processes embedded in the development of the Equator Principles, a set of principles designed for environmental and social risk management in project finance.

The 2010 French SIF European research in finance and sustainable development award, organised in association with Eurosif and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), awarded five prizes for academic research into sustainable finance and one prize for best published academic article in sustainable finance.

The award was presented to the authors at an awards ceremony organised by the French SIF, and hosted by Group Allianz, in Paris, on Monday, 18 January.

The French SIF, a member of Eurosif, promotes responsible investment research and activities throughout its member and associate network which includes institutional investors, private investors, rating agencies, academics, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The award and the authors were also featured in a dedicated section of the Le Monde newspaper on 19 January (see link below).