DekaBank

Dekabank publicly commits to gender equality and women’s empowerment and has been a signatory of the Women’s Empowerment Principles since 2018. The financial institution has an engagement policy where it describes its approach on sustainability themes and impact topics with investees and it includes a clear framework with success criteria and escalation points in the event that engagement with investees is unsuccessful. Dekabank also identified and prioritised its impacts through a materiality assessment process which included feedback from external stakeholders. Furthermore, the financial institution discloses that its Equality Plan details targets focused on increasing the number of women in management positions.

Dekabank discloses that alignment with the Paris Agreement is one of its engagement topics. Furthermore, the financial institution discloses the aggregate amount of outstanding green certificates and reports the amounts invested in solar and onshore renewable energy production. Additionally, the financial institution is a member of FAIRR and collectively engages with companies to which it provides financial services on the topic of their nature- and biodiversity-related impacts.

Dekabank discloses the proportion of women in its total direct operations workforce for each employee category. Furthermore, it has a grievance mechanism accessible to all workers, external individuals and communities to raise human rights complaints or bribery and corruption concerns. The financial institution also has a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption and takes steps to identify and address any instances of bribery or corruption. Additionally, it discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements.

In terms of its approach to senior leadership accountability, while Dekabank’s board of directors supports the implementation of sustainability targets, it is unclear that the end responsibility for sustainability issues lies with this body. Furthermore, there is no evidence that the financial institution links the remuneration of its executive or management teams to sustainability performance criteria. Dekabank has an opportunity to disclose the proportion of women on its board of directors or in senior leadership roles as well as how it addresses any gender pay gaps. The financial institution could also describe how its engagement policy is applied in practice.

There is no evidence that Dekabank discloses a target to reach net-zero financed emissions by 2050. Additionally, there is no evidence that the financial institution discloses key sectors or companies identified as priorities to engage with on climate issues, specifically alignment with the Paris Agreement. Regarding nature and biodiversity, no evidence was found that the financial institution is committed to minimising its negative impacts.

Dekabank has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights. However, it has an opportunity to use stronger language to turn the statement into a formal commitment. The financial institution could also describe a comprehensive process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts across all its activities, especially its financing activities. To provide transparency on financial inclusivity, the financial institution has an opportunity to disclose the amount of investments directed towards low-income developing countries.