Governance for sustainable products and services

The SSAF function within the Global Sustainability department (led by the Chief Sustainability Officer) has established governance for sustainable products and services which includes cross divisional communication and exchange at the Sustainability Leadership Committee. This work is closely linked to the bank’s existing Reputational Risk Review Process and complementary to the bank’s risk framework, which sets out prohibitions on a sectoral/industry basis.

In addition, Credit Suisse is committed to providing at least CHF 300 billion of sustainable finance by 2030. Over the course of 2021 we released guidance on the Sustainable Activities Framework methodology we have developed to illustrate how we count transactions toward this target and provide insight on the associated criteria. This is complementary to the work we have already published on how we apply ESG criteria across investments (see Products and Services Chapter, Sustainable Investment Framework section for further details) in an effort to bring transparency to this fast-evolving space.

In addition, we are aligned to industry best practice by following the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Impact Management Principles for any Impact related investments, which includes external assurance by a third party and the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) for any Credit Suisse self-issued green bonds, which is also subject to a third-party assurance review. Our commitment to good governance and third-party assurance is designed to ensure that we lead with credibility in this area.

SDG Icon Disclaimer: Credit Suisse is commit­ted to contributing towards the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Throughout this report we use this icon and other SDG icons to highlight specific areas of content which we feel align well with the UN SDGs as a whole or to specific SDGs.