CRIF: Helping FIs Meet Their Sustainability Goals

CRIF, Europe’s leading provider of consumer and business credit information, is driven by a desire to create value and new opportunities by providing reliable solutions.

This extends beyond typical financial matters, reaching the realm of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations which are becoming increasingly relevant to modern-day financial institutions. 

Thanks to ESG Analytics, a pioneering data repository and scoring service from CRIF, banks based in the UK can assess the ESG profile of their domestic and EU-based suppliers, partners and customer portfolio quickly and effectively.

The solution draws on more than 130 key indicators derived from UK and EU sources, analysing information on important areas such as a business’ water usage, waste production, emissions, health and safety records, anti-modern slavery and inclusiveness.

“There’s no doubt that protecting the environment for future generations is the number one most pressing challenge for individuals, businesses and governments today,” comments Sara Costantini, Regional Director UK&I at CRIF.

“Financial institutions will play a crucial role in the transition to a green economy. For banks in particular, efforts to reduce their impact on the environment and promote good governance and social responsibility are going to be more and more important in the near future.”

Growing attention towards ESG compliance

At present, the UK has no single ESG law or regulation, with policy currently consisting of domestic and EU-derived laws and regulations.

However, the Edinburgh Reforms announced by the UK Government in 2022 set out a potential regulatory framework for financial providers which could well be in place at some point in 2024. 

Costantini continues: “Considering the growing attention of regulatory bodies towards ESG compliance in the EU and the UK, ESG Analytics enables banks, insurers and corporates to understand the impact of businesses they work with today and helps to inform their decision-making in this ever-more important area of work. 

“By working with regulatory bodies all around the world, we ensure that we remain at the forefront of regulation so we can pass this knowledge onto UK financial institutions.”

ESG tool brings plenty of benefits for banks

Thanks to CRIF’s unique repository of data, not to mention more than 30 years of experience in advanced analytics, businesses using its ESG Analytics tool can get a quick and accurate picture of the ESG credentials of all UK and European businesses they work with or are considering working with.

To access these credentials, financial institutions simply require the VAT or registration number of a UK or European business to get an ESG score alongside granular ESG indicators – without the need to engage the company itself. 

Wider benefits for UK banks include: 

• Helping them to identify the most sustainable and ethically-conscious businesses they work with and to prioritise those relationships
• Identifying potential partners to work with in the future
• Supporting their own ESG objectives and efforts to further their own sustainability journey, for example in awareness of natural resource consumption
• Protecting their reputation by minimising potential risk in the organisations they work with and putting remedies in place to deal with any ESG exposures of their customers and suppliers
• Meeting reporting and compliance requirements for stakeholders, investors and regulatory bodies

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