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last update: Sep 02, 2010
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Nordea - Sweden
basics
policies
practice
Sign the action letter and stop Nordea from investing in Gunns pulp mill, Tasmania
image
Nordea headquarters in Stockholm
key facts
headquarters
Smålandsgatan 17
SE-105 71 Stockholm
Sweden
total assets
€ 487 billion (March 31, 2009)
key regions of operation
Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Poland, Baltic Region
supervisor
Riksbank
CEO/chair
Mr. Christian Clausen
President and group CEO
number of employees
34,000
ownership

Shareholders. The three largest shareholders are the Swedish state with 19.9% of the shares, Sampo Group with 15.3% and Nordea Danmark fonden with 4.1% [March 2009].

about Nordea

The Nordea Group was established in 2000 but derives its origin from banks and insurance companies from the Nordic region from the early 19th century. Since 3 December 2001 the entire Group is operating under the Nordea brand.

Nordea has around 10 million customers, approximately 1,400 branch offices and a netbanking position with 5.2 million e-customers. The Nordea share is listed on the NASDAQ OMX, the exchanges in Copenhagen, Helsinki and Stockholm.

 

voluntary standards and commitments
Carbon Disclosure Project
The CDP impels organisations to record their carbon footprint in daily activities. Encouraging enterprises to calculate and disclose their carbon impact, this initiative highlights the challenge for financial institutions to determine exactly how much carbon output can be attributed to financing.
Carbon Principles
Set of guidelines for banks and their U.S. power clients to evaluate and address carbon risks in the financing of electric power projects.
Climate Principles
Voluntary framework to guide the finance sector in tackling the challenge of climate change. They address the management of operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and provide direction on managing climate change in research activities; asset management; retail banking; insurance & re-insurance; corporate banking; investment banking & markets; project finance.
Equator Principles
The EPs are a set of guidelines, based upon the Performance Standards and guidelines from the IFC, the World Bank's private sector lending arm for private banks to asesses and mitigate risks in project finance. Banks use the Principles to guide internal operating procedures for transaction for specific projects. Although the EPs are an important step to raise overall standards of financiers and projects in the developing world, they currently fall short on transparency and governance requirements.
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
The verification and full publication of company payments and government revenues from oil, gas and mining is supported by the EITI. Financial institutions can participate and encourage resource-rich countries to support the initiative that aims to defeat poverty, corruption and conflict caused by weak transparency and accountability.
Global Reporting Initiative
As the name suggests, the GRI aims to standardise good practice in transparency. GRI provides companies with guidelines to organise their annual report with reporting indices and standards addressing environmental, social and economic issues that business ought to address when telling the world about its performance.
UN Global Compact
The UN Global Compact is a set of ten principles that companies may sign voluntarily. Signatories promise to avoid complicity in human rights violations, adhere to labour standards, protect the environment and avoid corruption. The G8 countries urge companies to participate in this initiative, and with over 2900 companies signing up, the Global Compact has momentum. A voluntary and network based framework, the Global Compact actively promotes peer review and stakeholder participation.
UNEP Finance Initiative
UNEP is the 'voice of the environment' for the United Nations system, promoting international cooperation in the field of the environment. Issues concerning the financial community are addressed by the UNEP Finance Initiative which promotes investment in clean and renewable energy by financial institutions and other investors. Financial insititutions wishing to join must sign one of two Statements (for financial institutions and a separate one for the insurance industry).
UNEP Principles for Responsible Investments
UNPRI is a set of six principles direct institutional investors may adopt to consider environmental, social and corporate governance issues when investing. Voluntary and aspirational in nature, UNPRI has since its inception in 2006 attracted 200 signatories, representing US$8 trillion worth of investments.
Wolfsberg principles
Since the turn of the century a group of twelve banks known as the Wolfsberg Group have collaborated to improve ethical standards. The principles provide guidance on money laundering, corruption and the financing of terrorism. They have been produced to address deficiencies in areas 'yet to be fully articulated by lawmakers or regulators'.
2010 sector and issue policies

General Banktrack reaction on policies Nordea

  • The Environmental Policy of Nordea focuses mainly on its operational activities. About its customers "Nordea considers environmental risks in investment and lending decisions, but the company in question has the responsibility for how environmental considerations affect its business." Moreover, it is "the responsibility of business area and unit managers to determine the necessity of more detailed policies." As a result this policies show no commitments related to lending and investment banking services or asset management at all and is awarded zero points.

-readmore-

  • Nordea's first CSR Report 2008 highlights its renewed CSR strategy and its business activities regarding project finance, asset management, microfinance and emissions trading. Although details are not disclosed the report also mentions the development of an additional tool to the Environmental Risk Assessment Tool (ERAT) in order to better handle the corporate social responsibility risks in the corporate lending process, the so-called Social and Political Risk Assessment Tool (SPRAT). BankTrack recommends Nordea to disclose it's underlying principles and criteria in order to be able to assess Nordea's investment policies for this benchmark report.

 

agriculture
0
arms industry and trade
0
fisheries
0
forestry
0
mining
1
oil and gas
1
power generation
1
biodiversity
1
climate change
1
corruption
1
human rights
1
indigenous peoples
1
labour
1
operation in conflict zones
0
taxation
0
toxics
1
accountability
1
transparency
2
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