DOES GREEN FINANCE PLAY A MEDIATING ROLE BETWEEN FINTECH, ECONOMIC POLICY UNCERTAINTY, ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS AND SUSTAINABLE BANKING PERFORMANCE? THE CASE OF SAUDI BANKS IN THE VISION 2030 ERA

Abstract This research analyses the dynamic relationship among Fintech, green finance, environmental regulation, economic policy uncertainty, and sustainable banking performance in the Saudi bank context in a time-setting strategic context of Vision 2030. The research only includes the public secondary data collected from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the OECD Environmental Policy Stringency Index, the EPU Database, and the Refinitiv ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) Scores and the 2010-2023 period. Utilising sophisticated panel data econometric methods such as Fixed Effects and System Generalized Method of Moments (System-GMM), the research uses empirical methods to test a mediation that green finance is a means which channels the effects of Fintech adoption and macroeconomic landscape contributing to better sustainability results. The results give robust empirical evidence that Fintech intensity and environmental regulation stringency are crucial for stimulating green finance deployment, which in turn positively influences the ESG performance of the banks. Uncertainty over economic policy has a suppression effect, but then the negative effect is offset by green finance intermediary effect. Admitting pre-2018 limited status of green finance metrics, the results suggest several implications for both SAMA, commercial banks, and implementation units of Vision 2030 policymaking, namely that digital transformation has to be complemented with green financial instruments to reach true sustainability. All data is traceable, replicable, and open-science compliant.