The main aspects of management of sustainable development issues in Bank Millennium were included in the growth strategy for 2015-2017 and are implemented in individual areas of the Bank’s operations.
Sustainable development elements in the Bank Millennium Strategy for years 2015-2017
Oversight, identification and management of economic, environmental and social issues
Bank Millennium achieves its economic, environmental and social objectives on the basis of the plans prepared by the Bank’s Management Board and approved by the Bank’s Supervisory Board with a one-year time horizon and in the medium term (usually three years). Achievement of these plans is subject to regular reviews and assessments. They are made by the Bank’s Management Board, based on information prepared by the entities responsible for their implementation and by the Bank’s Supervisory Board, based on information presented by the Management Board.
Based on the current assessment of critical points and the possible unexpected events that may affect the achievement of the assumed objectives, the objectives or the policies used to implement them are adjusted at the working levels. These decisions are noted in minutes prepared during the meetings of the Bank’s Management Board and Supervisory Board. They may also be subject to an independent review conducted by the internal audit function.
Global assessment of the Bank’s activities, including the management of economic, environmental and social matters, is performed by the Supervisory Board based on the Bank’s published statements. They are analyzed and presented to the Shareholders at the Shareholder Meeting and form the basis for granting a discharge to the Bank’s Management Board on the performance of its duties in the financial year.
G4-46, G4-47
Management of risks associated with the impact of environmental and social factors
The following categories of social and economic factors are taken into account in the operational risk management process:
- Human risk – arising from conscious actions or omissions by an employee or a risk arising from relations between the Bank and its employees;
- Litigation risk – associated with the execution of transactions and different aspects of business activity, including products and services;
- External risk – arising from damage to physical property or loss of assets due to natural or unnatural reasons, including risk arising from actions by third parties, such as fraud or, in the case of regulators, implementation of a change that could change the organization’s capacity to continue its business activity on certain markets;
- Organizational risk – risk arising from issues such as project management, non-compliance with regulatory requirements, corporate culture and risk arising from communication and improper market practices.
When analyzing the risks associated with the financing of companies, the Bank additionally identified high risk industries. One of the criteria for a branch to be classified in this category is a negative outlook related, among others, with environmental threats. The Bank has default exposure limits for Clients in respective industry categories, where the limit levels are the most restrictive for high risk industries.
G4-14
Impact of the Bank's activity on sustainable development and stakeholder rights
The Bank has identified the key areas of its impact on sustainable economic, social and environmental development and the related risks, challenges and opportunities. The key aspects of the Bank's impact have been classified by their significance for Stakeholders and the scope of impact.
| Impact on: | Challenges | Benefits | Actions taken | |
| Clients | ensuring security of deposited funds, ethical marketing and selling practices, offering high quality products and services, access for people threatened with exclusion | continuous monitoring of client opinions and correctness of processes in the Bank and introduction of improvements in response to clients’ needs | gaining competitive advantage as a Bank with a good reputation, offering high service quality and accessible to a wide group of clients | introducing regulations to ensure product safety and protection of client's funds; continuous dialogue with clients to respond to their expectations; obligating employees to observe the ethical marketing and selling practices, ensuring access for excluded individuals |
| Employees | Employee rights to fair remuneration, rewards, employment stability and development and opportunity to express opinions | developing solutions that take into account both: expectations of employees but also the economic capacity of the company | gaining dedicated and loyal employees and reputation of a good employer | observing the principles of the HR policy; creating capacity of employees to express their opinions; preference for employment for an indefinite term |
| Investors | transparent information policy enabling investors to make investment decisions | creating modern platforms enabling rapid exchange of information between the company and investors | increasing confidence in the company and consequently growth of brand value | observing Best Practices for WSE-Listed Companies and reporting regularly conducting ongoing communication with investors |
| Society | preventing social exclusion through the implementation of social and educational programs and providing access to products and services for the disabled persons. | boosting the Bank’s impact on resolution of social problems | impact on resolution of social problems (e.g. exclusion of the disabled or elderly, low financial literacy in society) | introducing facilities for disabled persons, social and educational programs to prevent the problem of exclusion |
| Environment | monitoring the environmental impact and managing resources in a sustainable manner; environmental education of the stakeholders | developing and implementing an environmental policy and a comprehensive tool for reporting and monitoring environmental data | optimization of processes in the company and the associated savings of e.g. energy, fuel and water reducing fees for pollution | monitoring the use of resources and implementation of reduction measures, conducting environmental education programs |
impact on stakeholders' rights
impact on sustainable development
G4-2
Objectives relating to the implementation of CSR
| Targets for 2013-2015 | Actions taken | To be deployed |
| MANAGEMENT | ||
| Develop, approve and implement the CSR policy. | Review CSR activities, define the CSR policy and incorporate it in the Bank’s business strategy. | Completed |
| Change the organizational structure in the CSR area and establish a Committee consisting of managers of the areas of key importance for CSR. | Prepare a proposal for an organizational structure to perform the CSR policy. | Approve and implement the document. |
| Maintain presence in the Respect Index. | Presence in the Respect Index. | Continuous process |
| COMMUNICATION | ||
| Improve dialogue with stakeholders by formally defining the frequency and form of consultation and by including all the key stakeholder groups. | Define types and frequency of contacts with each key stakeholder group, regularly collect feedback from stakeholders and consider their opinions in activities of the company. | Continuous process |
| Increase frequency and forms of communication with stakeholders on the implementation of the Bank's CSR policy. | Conduct regular communication with stakeholders through various internal and external channels | Continuous process |
| ENVIRONMENT | ||
| Develop, approve and implement the environmental policy containing specific, measurable and monitored targets. | Define key areas of impact on the environment and the methods used to measure them. | Approve and implement the environmental policy. |
| Introduce tools for monitoring of environmental impact. | Implement a system to measure key environmental impact ratios. | Completed |
| Reduce the company’s negative impact on the environment. | Implement activities reducing its negative impact on the environment. | Continuous process |
| SUPPLIERS | ||
| Include ethical and environmental clauses into contracts with suppliers and monitor their observance. | Include ethical and environmental clauses in selected contracts with suppliers; obligate suppliers to observe provisions of the Bank Millennium Code of Ethics. | Increase the number of suppliers subject to environmental and ethical audits. |
| SOCIETY | ||
| Increase the scale of participation of the company and its employees in social engagement programs. | Employee participation in volunteering and community projects. | Continuous process |
