Case study: How Banca Mediolanum works with its clients and customers to encourage sustainable practices

Stakeholder identification and consultation

Please describe which stakeholders (or groups/ types of stakeholders) you have identified, consulted, engaged, collaborated or partnered with for the purpose of implementing the Principles and improving your bank’s impacts. This should include a high-level overview of how your bank has identified relevant stakeholders, what issues were addressed/results achieved and how they fed into the action planning process.

Banca Mediolanum acknowledges the importance of initiating and maintaining ongoing dialogue with its stakeholders on sustainability issues, recognizing the centrality of certain stakeholder groups—such as customers, Family Bankers, and employees—in creating the Group’s value.

Banca Mediolanum conducted a stakeholder mapping exercise to identify and prioritize key stakeholder groups, establish and execute an engagement plan, and periodically monitor the results. The identified stakeholder categories include customers, employees, shareholders and the financial community, Family Banker network, media, trade associations, institutions and regulators, suppliers, and the community.

In line with this, Banca Mediolanum has been holding listening and discussion sessions with stakeholders for years as part of its materiality analysis, aiming to pinpoint the most relevant sustainability issues. In 2023, the materiality analysis process was further enhanced in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative and the ESRS Reporting Standards published by EFRAG in 2023, addressing the impacts generated.

Banca Mediolanum is dedicated to progressively increasing opportunities for a deeper dialogue with stakeholders in response to the evolving sustainability context and the commitments made regarding ESG issues.

How did Banca Mediolanum work with its clients and customers to encourage sustainable practices and enable sustainable economic activities?

In its 2023 PRB Reporting and Self-Assessment Template Banca Mediolanum reports that it works with its clients and customers to encourage sustainable practices and enable sustainable economic activities as follows:

Engaging customers and stakeholders in Banca Mediolanum’s processes and activities is crucial for building solid, lasting relationships and tailoring the Bank’s offerings to meet users’ specific needs.

Banca Mediolanum’s ‘Sustainability Policy’ outlines the roles and responsibilities within the Bank for developing and managing stakeholder engagement activities, aiming to identify relevant (material) issues concerning ESG sustainability for customers.

Demonstrating its commitment to the environment, the community, and its customers, Banca Mediolanum has long pursued a path of product awareness. This commitment is particularly evident in the “Banking – Retail” business area through the “Operative policy on responsible products.” This document considers environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors and determines how these are integrated throughout the “production process,” so as to offer innovative financial products and services to customers. The Bank uses ESG metrics to monitor the sustainability positioning of its products over time, aiming for continuous improvement.

For banking, credit, and protection services, Banca Mediolanum employs an internal assessment system based on an ESG materiality matrix dedicated to these products, developed in collaboration with the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan. This evaluation system assesses each product based on its attention to ESG sustainability characteristics, encompassing environmental, social, and governance factors.

UN Principles for Responsible Banking: Accelerating a positive global transition for people and the planet

With over 300 signatory banks representing almost half of the global banking industry, the Principles for Responsible Banking are the world’s foremost sustainable banking framework. Through these Principles, the banking community takes action to align core strategies, decision-making, lending and investment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and international agreements such as the Paris Climate Agreement.

FBRH Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) Assurance:

First class PRB assurance services: The result of solid, hands-on ESG/ Sustainability experience

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    • FBRH builds trust. Over 200 reviews from top professionals from around the world demonstrate our ability to build strong, trusting business relationships.
    • FBRH possesses a unique skill set that combines ESG/sustainability certified training, experience in advisory services and report preparation, and ESG/sustainability report assurance.

The combination of all the above empowers FBRH to provide first class Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) assurance services.

References:

This case study is based on published information by Banca Mediolanum, 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://www.bancamediolanum.it/static-assets/documents/sostenibilita/2024/03/Report_Principles_for_Responsible_Banking_2023_ENG.pdf

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