Case study: How Global Bank identifies and works on strategic business opportunities to increase positive and reduce negative impacts

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.

Global Bank actively engages stakeholders through various channels, recognizing that their participation is essential to the activities of the Financial Group. The specialization of Global Bank’s teams facilitates direct and efficient relationships, grounded in transparency and the creation of value for all parties.

When assessing the impact of its products, Global Bank consults with different business areas to identify the relevant customer profiles and the potential impacts.

Furthermore, to better understand its impacts on various stakeholders, Global Bank has updated its materiality analysis within the framework of dual materiality. This process has helped identify critical issues across its diverse roles—not only as a provider of financial products and services but also as an employer and customer, among others.

Throughout this process, Global Bank engaged with employees, customers, authorities, and shareholders—either directly or through employees who maintain relationships with these groups. The bank’s active participation in initiatives, events, and sector-related organizations related to sustainability has enabled it to collaborate on shared goals and action plans. Some of these are detailed in the Annex on Alliances and Memberships of Global Bank’s 2023-2024 Sustainability Report, including:

• Participation in the UNEP FI/UN Women Global Task Force on Gender Equality, with meetings since April 2024, contributing to the review of guidelines, tools, and regional analyses.
• Panel participation at the UNEP FI Roundtable for Latin America and the Caribbean in Colombia on January 30-31, 2024, where the topic “Incorporation of social issues in the practices of financial institutions” was addressed. Global Bank also served as a reviewer of UNEP FI’s Climate Adaptation Target Setting document.
• Acting as an expert reviewer for Panama’s draft Taxonomy of Sustainable Finance.
• Engagement in the Financial Industry Review Group, contributing to technical discussions on the Panama Sustainable Finance Taxonomy.

Presentation as speakers at a webinar on Climate Risks, addressing the regulatory and practical scenario in Panama, organized by Valora.

How did Global Bank identify and work on strategic business opportunities to increase positive and reduce negative impacts?

In its 2023-2024 Sustainability Report Global Bank reports that it identified and worked on strategic business opportunities to increase positive and reduce negative impacts as follows:

Global Bank has developed a comprehensive strategy to expand its range of financial products with an environmental and social focus, recognizing their potential as business opportunities and essential tools for promoting sustainability and financial inclusion.

In the environmental area, Global Bank offers green financial products designed to support the transition toward a more sustainable economy. This includes financing for distributed solar energy, electric vehicle acquisition, and sustainable agricultural practices, the latter supported by the eco.business Fund, which has provided loans with specialized technical advice since 2017. Additionally, Global Bank is actively developing new green financing solutions to increase access to capital for projects with positive environmental impacts.

Regarding financial inclusion, Global Bank promotes the Única Program, a holistic strategy combining financial and non-financial products aimed at empowering women and fostering their professional and personal development. This program features the Única Credit Card, offering exclusive benefits in insurance and assistance, as well as preferential conditions on mortgages, car loans, and personal loans for women. Global Bank also offers Única Experiences, a space for training and networking designed to enhance women’s financial and business skills.

Furthermore, Global Bank continues to expand its financing options in strategic sectors, including loans for renewable energy projects and mortgages for women and women-led SMEs. It also offers credit products with differentiated conditions, such as loans for retirees, preferential mortgages, and financing for the agricultural sector with access to subsidized rates when certain requirements are met.

The progress of these products and their impact on the bank’s loan portfolio are detailed in Principle 2 and in the Responsible Banking chapter of Global Bank’s 2023-2024 Sustainability Report, reaffirming Global Bank’s commitment to financial inclusion and sustainable development.

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.

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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 Global Bank, 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.globalbank.com.pa/sites/default/files/media/sostenibilidad/reportes-informes/sustainability-report-2023-2024.pdf

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