CIB finalizes its Sustainability Financial Strategy

08 / 11 / 2021

By Marwa Nassar - -

The Commercial International Bank (CIB) finalized its Sustainable Financial Strategy that will be embedded within the bank’s strategy as a whole and this was a pioneering step by the CIB board, the head of the CIB department for sustainability culture said.

During the 11^th Corporate Social Responsibility Forum (CSR Forum) on Monday, Safa Yehia El Assy said the bank has sustained finance policies and is changing policies and procedures of all its departments to embed the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG).

She referred to a decision issued by the Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority in July that all companies listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX) have to disclose their ESG principles.

She noted that the CIB joined this year the Net Zero Banking Alliance, while last it joined the task force on climate-related financial disclosures (TCFD).

She said the bank is already implementing the TCFD, but it will finalize its implementation by the beginning of 2022.

She added that the bank is working on capacity building and communication both for the employees to apply the sustainability principles at work and for customers so that change can be achieved in the whole community.

She noted that the CIB was the first private institution in Egypt to issue green bond at $ 100 million, adding that the International Finance Corporation (IFC) subscribed to the full value of the issue.

She noted that the bank discovered that a large part of its portfolio was already green.

The IFC will also provide the CIB with a technical support for customers as well as employees, she said, noting that the challenge is to take the customer to go through the journey of turning green through green lending.