Case study: How Swedbank creates economic value for its stakeholders
With over seven million private customers and 620 000 corporate customers, Swedbank is the leading bank for the many households and businesses in its four home markets: Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Swedbank is firmly focused on sustainable value creation for its stakeholders Tweet This! and therefore aims for a competitive return on invested capital, market-leading cost efficiency, low risk and an excellent customer experience.
This case study is based on the 2021 Annual and Sustainability Report by Swedbank, prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards, that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
Creating long-term value for all its stakeholders, empowering people and businesses to create a better future, is a top priority for Swedbank. In order to create economic value for its stakeholders Swedbank took action to:
- create economic value for employees
- create economic value for suppliers
- create economic value for the government
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Swedbank has identified;
- How Swedbank proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Swedbank to create economic value for its stakeholders
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2021 Annual and Sustainability Report Swedbank identified a range of material issues, such as responsible governance, secure and stable IT systems, business ethics, combatting financial crime. Among these, creating economic value for its stakeholders stands out as a key material issue for Swedbank.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups Swedbank engages with:
| Stakeholder Group |
| Authorities |
| Municipalities and county councils |
| Regulators |
| Pension managers |
| Asset managers |
| Analysts |
| Journalists |
| Unions |
| Students |
| Foundations |
| Not-for-profit organisations |
| Stakeholder organisations |
| Trade organisations |
| Associations |
| Primary and secondary schools |
| Colleges and universities |
| Suppliers |
| Subsidiaries |
| Competitors |
| Ratings agencies and indexes |
| Auditors |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritise material topics, Swedbank initially conducted a survey of around 120 key employees from the various business areas and Group functions who also had a good understanding of the bank’s stakeholders. Based on the results of this internal survey, a second survey was sent to external stakeholders. Responses were received from around 900 private customers, 400 corporate customers, 500 employees, 17 social actors (e.g. authorities and interest groups) and eight investors.
What actions were taken by Swedbank to create economic value for its stakeholders?
In its 2021 Annual and Sustainability Report Swedbank reports that it took the following actions for creating economic value for its stakeholders:
- Creating economic value for employees
- In 2021, Swedbank paid 8 356 million SEK for employee salaries and fees and 3 787 million SEK in social insurance costs and pensions.
- Creating economic value for suppliers
- In 2021, Swedbank paid 9 593 million SEK to suppliers.
- Creating economic value for the government
- In 2021, Swedbank paid 4 645 million SEK in tax.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standard addressed in this case is: Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed
Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.1, 8.2
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- Targets: 9.1, 9.4, 9.5
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References:
This case study is based on published information by Swedbank, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:
https://internetbank.swedbank.se/ConditionsEarchive/download?bankid=1111&id=WEBDOC-PRODE109370778
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