Sustainable finance

Woman in workshop with two others looking at postits on a board

Lending is the core business of a bank. For the bank to be well-functioning and sustainable, it is critical that the lending is made responsible. A key objective for Swedbank is to provide credit and lending facilities, as well as advisory services or access to capital markets, to enable the transition to a low-carbon economy and to help clients manage transition risk. To enable this, we continuously integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into our lending process.

Integrating ESG criteria in our business processes

For Swedbank, lending to individual customers and businesses is a long-term responsibility. For corporate lending, Swedbank’s credit policy requires the borrower to be sound and sustainable and the loan to be based on familiarity with the company, its business, market trends and an assessment of its social impact. It is also important that Swedbank’s customers are financially sustainable.

Swedbank encourages sustainable business models, and plans to continue to develop financing products and services that contribute to the transition to a more sustainable society. Swedbank also evaluates its loan portfolio according to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations based on related climate risks and opportunities.

We engage with our clients on ESG-related risks and opportunities

It is important for Swedbank to engage with our clients on ESG-related risks and opportunities. We have developed extensive internal guidelines for thirteen sectors that we consider to be high-risk from a sustainability standpoint. The guidelines are a tool to provide better insight into the sustainability problems facing various industries, as well as suggestions and advice on which aspects should be addressed by the customer.

Since 2017, the Swedbank Green Bond Framework has outlined the criteria for eligible green loans for the bank. In September 2022, the Swedbank Sustainable Funding Framework was launched. The new framework updates the green eligibility criteria and expands the scope to social activities, thereby enabling Swedbank to also provide social loans to its customers.

Sustainable financing products

To support a sustainable economy, Swedbank has developed wide and diversified offers of sustainable financing products and services as follows.

Sustainable products and services

Sustainable Finance offering

Improve the sustainability impact of your business.