ESG rating (or sustainability rating) is a synthetic evaluation that certifies the soundness of an issuer, a security or a fund in terms of environmental, social and governance performance.
As proof of the Group’s commitment and ongoing improvement in this area, the ratings of BPER Banca are provided below:
Standard Ethics Rating (SER)
Standard Ethics Rating (SER)
Standard Ethics is an independent rating agency active since 2004, promoting the standard principles of sustainability and governance issued by the EU, the OECD and the United Nations. Its final assessments on the level of compliance of companies and nations with the sustainability principles are expressed through nine rating classifications (from EEE to F).
In 2022, the agency has upgraded BPER Banca’s Corporate Standard Ethics Rating (SER) to “EE+” from the previous “EE” with a positive outlook, going from a "Strong" rating in 2021 to a "Very Strong". The bank is part of the SE Italian Banks Index and the SE Italian Index. Consistent with the changes, the bank has strengthened and improved its governance of Sustainability system to ensure alignment with the UN, OECD and European Union guidelines, preparing it for new challenges in the ESG sphere. Challenges made more complex by new regulations imposed at both a European and national level. The objectives suggested by the Corporate Standard Ethics Rating (SER) Guidelines have been reached in the three-year period 2019-2022, impacting the senior management structure (such as the quality and composition of the Board of Directors), governance (such as the Code of Ethics), as well as the more operational level (Policy, ESG targets and extra-financial reporting).
ESG Solutions is Moody's Corporation's business unit that supports organizations in analyzing their ESG performance, assessing exposure to climate and environmental risks, strengthening sustainability action plans, and communicating with key stakeholders.
In 2022, BPER Bank confirmed its "Robust" rating (range from Weak to Advanced).
The S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) is for companies seeking an independent assessment of their performance across a wide range of industry-specific economic, environmental, and social criteria.
In 2022 BPER Bank confirmed the "Adequate" rating (range from "Low" to "Best in Class"). In 2022 BPER Bank activated, for the first time, an ESG Solicited S&P Global Ratings ESG Evaluation rating process. At the end of the ESG evaluation process, the rating company assigned an "Adequate" score (in the range from "Low" to "Best in Class") to BPER Bank.
The Carbon Disclosure Project is an international non-profit organisation that allows companies to declare and report on their risks linked to climate change and communicate their environmental performance to stakeholders.
In 2021, BPER obtained a B rating (the rating has classifications ranging from A to D) for both the management of climate change issues and supplier engagement activities.
The Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS") group of companies supports investors and companies in building long-term sustainable growth by providing high-quality data, analysis and insights. BPER's ISS ESG Rating is C- and is well within the 30% of companies in the sector with the highest relative ESG performance (the rating has classifications ranging from D- to A+).
MIB ESG (Italian Stock Exchange): is dedicated to domestic blue-chips, with the aim of grouping together large Italian listed issuers with ESG best practices. The index, launched in 2021 by Euronext in collaboration with Vigeo Eiris, combines the measurement of economic performance with ESG assessments in line with the principles of the UN Global Compact.
Standard Ethics Italian Banks Index: assesses the Sustainability of Italian banks based on ESG criteria. The index takes into account several factors, such as environmental and social risk management, business ethics, and transparency. The final index score allows investors to assess the sustainability of banks and make more informed and responsible investment choices.
Standard Ethics Italian Index: sustainability index of Italian listed companies. As with the Standard Ethics Italian Banks Index it takes several ESG factors into account for evaluation.
