Achievement in CSR Award: Itaú Unibanco

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Itaú Unibanco is one of the largest financial institutions in Latin America. Headquartered in Brazil, it is here that some of the bank’s most striking CSR work is being done.

In 2014 the Central Bank of Brazil issued resolution 4327. This decreed for the first time that banks and all other firms governed by the bank must put in place social and environmental responsibility policies.

“It’s a very interesting development here in Brazil, we want full transparency on these matters,” says Denise Hills, head of sustainability at Itaú Unibanco. “This had more impact on small and mid-sized banks who were not prepared. But it has influenced the whole market; for clients it’s not the case that is nice to have a focus on this area anymore, it’s a must have.”

Itaú Asset Management signed the Principles for Responsible Investment in 2008. Since then, the bank has developed action strategies to study impacts for investors, as well as supporting signatories to incorporate these issues into decision-making. The bank developed a methodology to integrate environmental, social and corporate governance in the valuation process of companies that belong to equity funds. Now 100% of Bovespa Index and ISE listed companies have been valued using this methodology.

In 2014, the bank introduced an ESG methodology to value corporate bonds; some 50% of corporate bonds in Itaú’s portfolios are now covered by this methodology.

The bank has paid careful attention to cultural trends and works to tailor product offerings to what the public needs. Hills explains that the bank also does its utmost to enhance financial literacy.

“We found that our educational programmes lead people to better life choices when it comes to taking credit and so forth. We want people to be very comfortable using our products. Our adverts use relaxed language talking about real problems in real life and help give advice our customers can actually use,” she says.

The bank places great emphasis on education as the key to a country’s sustainable development.

“Delivering quality education for all Brazilian children and young people is such a large-scale and complex challenge that it requires efficacious government policies, combined with the extensive involvement of the different sectors of society,” says Hills.