Section ECONOMY
TOPIC

Eurobank S.A.
Annual Report Business & Sustainability

To inform the Group’s stakeholders, through the presentation of its overall activity, both at business level and at the level of actions for sustainable development.

The Annual Report of Business & Sustainability is addressed to all interested parties that are directly or indirectly affected by the operation of the organization:

  • Shareholders
  • Analysts & Investors
  • Employees
  • Entrepreneurship Bodies
  • State & Regulatory Authorities
  • Media
  • Non-Governmental Organizations & Associations
  • Young Entrepreneurs
  • Customers
  • Suppliers
  • Local Communities

 

The publication of the Annual Report Business & Sustainability takes place on an annual basis and the process takes approximately 9 months.

Sustainable Development is a key condition for a society to be able to prosper. It requires developing productive economic structures alongside the infrastructure for a responsible attitude towards the natural environment. Aiming at sustainable development, Eurobank has made Corporate Responsibility one of the foundations of its strategic planning, which is inexorably linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

 

In this context, Eurobank publishes the Annual Report Business & Sustainability, an important corporate issue aimed to fully informing its stakeholders about its performance in the sustainable development pillars (economy, society, environment)

 

The publication is in line with the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) international framework and is aligned with the GRI Standards (“prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards: Core option”) andcomplies with the principles for defining report content (stakeholder inclusiveness, sustainability context, materiality, completeness) and principles for defining report quality (balance, comparability, accuracy, timeliness, clarity, reliability).

 

The procedure followed is based on the Materiality Analysis which is defined by the GRI standard, from which a plurality of material issues that affect the sustainability and are important to the bank’s stakeholders are recognized.

 

The material issues arise, following internal consultation among the project team and representatives from theUnits that interact regularly with the stakeholders and the Bank’s Management

 

During the topic prioritization stage, a materiality questionnaire-based survey is conducted. The questionnaire is sent to various stakeholder groups and the participants are asked to rate each issue based on a standard scale, while at the same time the prioritization of the issues is implemented by the Bank's Management.

 

After processing the results of the research, the most essential issues are identified, which are presented in the Materiality Matrix. In this matrix the vertical axis depicts how the stakeholders perceive the materiality of each issue and the horizontal axis depicts the view of Eurobank Management on these issues.

 

The results are analyzed and evaluated by top executives of the Bank at the Bank’s Communication Committee and constitute the main growth pillars of the Report’s content.

 

The boundaries of these issues are then determined and aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

 

Based on the above process, the necessary information is gathered for each of the pillars of Sustainable Development (economy, society, environment) which are defined by specific Indicators of the GRI standard.

 

The GRI Indicators to which the Bank refers include the General Standard Disclosures (Indicators concerning the profile of the Organization, Strategy, Ethics & Integrity, Governance, Reporting Method) as well as the Special Standard Disclosures (Indicators concerning each Issuearising from the Materiality Analysis, for the economy, society and the environment).

Indicatively, for 2019 the Indicators of Special Formal Disclosures emerged from the following Essential Issues:

 

• Responsible information & customer service

• Support & financing of the Greek economy

• Economic growth-performance

• Protection of personal data of interested parties

• Support for start-up entrepreneurship & innovation

• Education & training of human resources

• Attracting talented & high level human resources

• Utilization of human resources

• Education & Excellence

•Corporate governance

• Environment (materials & energy)

Acknowledging the significance of external assurance for the Report, and aiming to achieve transparency and strengthen the credibility of the data and information presented, Eurobank assigned the external assurance of the Report’s content to independent auditors. The limited assurance report of the information is included in Eurobank’s Annual Report 2019 Business & Sustainability.

Almost all the Units of the Group participate in the preparation of the Annual Report Business & Sustainability through the provision of the necessary information contained in the issue. In addition, for the process of Materiality Analysis according to the GRI standard, a special project team has been set up consisting of  selected Bank Units with the task of gathering the required information and data.

The Annual Reports are published on the website www.eurobankholdings.gr so that they are available to all interested parties. In addition, they are also available in printed form.

The Annual Report Business & Sustainability, is part of the two-way communication and the ongoing dialogue that develops in order to achieve a practical response to the expectations, concerns and issues of all stakeholders and aims at their comprehensive information.

Through the publication of the Annual Report Business & Sustainability and the use of international standards to measure its performance in terms of sustainable development, Eurobank fulfills its commitment to transparency, reliability and accountability and responsibility. At the same time, the Materiality Analysis offers a thorough understanding of the expectations of stakeholders and contributes to the organization's response to them through the implementation of specific and targeted actions. In addition, it maintains and expands the channels of communication with its Stakeholders and strengthens the cooperation links with them.