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Our corporate responsibility. Objectives and achievements.

Our objectives, and how we delivered. As a bank and an employer, as a part of the economy and society, and for the environment.

Corporate Responsibility Report

Our report offers an insight into how Credit Suisse assumes its various responsibilities as a bank, as an employer, as well as towards society and environment.

Check out the latest edition

Objectives 2020

  • Achieve consistent growth and continued disciplined execution as we work towards achieving our return on tangible equity (RoTE) ambition of approximately 10% for 2020.
  • Continue to leverage existing risk management processes and capabilities for the management of climate risk exposures.
  • Further develop our Group-wide Climate Risk Strategy program, assessing the readiness of our clients to transition to low-carbon and climate-resilient business activities.
  • Take steps to implement the UNEP FI Principles for Responsible Banking.

Objectives & Achievements 2019

Objectives Achievements
  • Continue our efforts to drive a robust compliance culture throughout the bank through targeted measures that take account of the changing operating environment.
  • Through our Conduct and Financial Crime Control Committee, we continued to actively monitor and assess financial crime compliance risks and drive initiatives focused on vigilance within the context of combating financial crime.
  • We continued to focus on developing and enhancing our data and technology platforms that contribute to mitigating employee and client risk.
  • Take steps to address the implications of the UK's decision to leave the EU in order to minimize disruption to the business and to clients.
  • In order to provide continued services to EU clients and access to EU markets, we are leveraging our existing legal entity network and, where necessary, transferring our EU clients and EU venue-facing broker-dealer business to Group entities incorporated in Spain, Credit Suisse Securities Sociedad de Valores S.A., and Germany, Credit Suisse (Deutschland) AG.
  • Focus on generating capital in order to return it to shareholders; our long-term objective is to distribute around 50% of profits to shareholders for 2019 and 2020.
  • We continued to generate capital and reported an increased common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 12.7% at end-2019. We distributed CHF 1.7 billion of capital to our shareholders last year – including through the successful completion of our CHF 1 billion share buyback program for 2019. We commenced a similar program for 2020 and expect to buy back at least CHF 1 billion of shares this year, subject to market and economic conditions.
  • Develop methodologies and tools for the alignment of credit portfolios with the Paris Climate Agreement, working with other banks.
  • In 2019, we joined the Paris Agreement Capital Transition Assessment (PACTA) pilot project in recognition of the need to bring financial flows in line with the objectives set out in the Paris Agreement. Within that project, Credit Suisse is working with other international banks to develop and test methodologies for measuring the alignment of corporate lending portfolios with the Paris Agreement. We are also participating in Phase II of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Banking pilot under the United Nations Environment Programme, wherein a systematic, repeatable, and comprehensive approach to assess transition and physical risks in accordance with the TCFD recommendations is being developed.
  • Launch pilot phase to define internal climate risk terminology and measure certain sector exposures against defined climate scenarios.
  • We have identified several key risks and opportunities, originating from either the physical or transition effects of climate change.
  • Climate-related risks are embedded in our Group-wide risk taxonomy. They could manifest themselves through existing risk types such as credit risk, market risk, operational risk, strategy risk or reputational risk.
  • The Group has enhanced its internal reports and is developing further climate risk-related scenario analysis in addition to the 2°C and 4°C scenarios introduced in 2018.
  • Review and further develop Credit Suisse's sector policies and guidelines for sensitive industries.

In 2019, we made the following updates to our sector policies and guidelines for sensitive industries:

  • Update of the Power Sector Guidelines to exclude any form of financing specifically related to the development of new coal-fired power plants.
  • Inclusion of the concept of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) in our policies on oil and gas, mining as well as forestry and agribusiness in order to better respect the rights of indigenous peoples that may be affected by project-related transactions.
  • Continue to engage with peers and industry groups for the development of environmental and social (E&S) due diligence approaches and the improvement of E&S disclosure.
  • We continued our active participation in industry initiatives such as the Equator Principles and the Thun Group.
  • Credit Suisse played an active role in the update process of the Equator Principles and in the ongoing management of the Equator Principles Association.
  • At the 2019 Thun Group meeting, Credit Suisse discussed topics such as the OECD Responsible Business Conduct guidelines, effective human rights due diligence and performance measurement and measures to combat modern slavery and human trafficking with representatives from banks, governments, academia, civil society and other actors.
  • We served as a member of the multi-stakeholder Advisory Group established by the OECD, which aims to develop best practice guidance for human rights and environmental due diligence based on the provisions of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. In 2018 and 2019, the advisory group worked to develop the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Corporate Lending and Securities Underwriting, published in October 2019.
  • In Singapore, we held our ninth annual roundtable on environmental and social risk management practices in investment banking, with participants from 12 different banks.

Objectives 2020

  • Provide thought leadership on and advocate proportionate and effective financial market regulation. Continue to engage with policymakers, trade associations and regulators on sustainable finance policy topics, with a particular focus on the EU Action Plan on Sustainable Finance, Swiss sustainable finance developments (e.g. total revision of the CO2-Act post 2020) and other global developments such as ESG disclosure requirements.
  • Further develop and establish our Future Skills program by identifying and collaborating with innovative partner organizations who are trying new models, as well as linking the program to core HR activities and thought leadership in the area of workforce development where possible.

 

Objectives & Achievements 2019

Objectives Achievements
  • Continue to engage in an active dialogue with policymakers and regulators in order to ensure the competitiveness and resilience of the financial sector.
  • We continued our longstanding dialogue with regulators and policymakers on various policy matters in 2019. Key topics included regulatory cooperation to avoid fragmentation of global standards, introduction of the new Basel III regulations in Switzerland as well as financial institutions' share of responsibilities in combating climate change by supporting the transition to a low-[@DR]carbon and climate-[@DR]resilient global economy. We furthermore continued our engagement in various industry associations on both on a national and international level.
  • After the success of our global initiatives over the last decade and based on our long-running regional efforts, we want to build on our strengths and continuously adapt to changing needs within society. In 2019, we want to further develop our strategy and processes in the area of corporate citizenship in order to identify trends and issues at an early stage and to align our programs with them as effectively as possible. At the same time, we will strive to further optimize our internal resources.
  • In 2019, we thoroughly reviewed and updated our global Corporate Citizenship strategy, taking into consideration societal needs and developments in all the regions where we operate. Our newly introduced Future Skills program complements our two global initiatives in the areas of financial inclusion and financial education and is a natural evolution of our longstanding commitment to education in the communities where we live and work. It also helps us to even better leverage the resources at our disposal and to coherently showcase our programs and their impact in the different regions.

Objectives 2020

  • Foster a culture of lifelong learning, and facilitate personalized learning to enable the upskilling of the Credit Suisse workforce in the context of continuous changes in the working environment and digital transformation.

Objectives & Achievements 2019

Objectives Achievements
  • Strengthen systematic nurturing and development of diverse talent at Credit Suisse.
  • In 2019, we positioned Credit Suisse as an inclusive employer that attracts and develops diverse talent. We leveraged our messaging from the Employer Value Proposition to communicate our focus on Diversity & Inclusion and we strengthened targeted recruitment campaigns that focus on diverse groups, e.g. our Real Returns program and Campaign for Women. As a result, we were awarded first place in the Diversity Index Switzerland and have been named as one of the top ten best places to work for women. We were also recognized as an 'Exemplar of Inclusion' in the 2019 AVTAR.
  • Continue to foster collaboration and development of our leaders.
  • In 2019, we increased investment in the systematic development of our key Senior Talent & Leaders. We expanded our Leadership Development curriculum with the launch of the New Managing Director Program and the MD Masterclasses. We also continued the Senior Talent Program for our most senior Managing Director talents and introduced a similar pipeline program – the Emerging Leaders Program – for our Director talents.

Objectives 2020

  • Continue our support for sustainable soft commodities, including industry standards, peer collaboration, client advisory and disclosure.
  • Ensure a successful global ISO14001 surveillance audit under the direction of the certification company SGS.
  • Roll out the implementation plan for the 2025 environmental objectives in all regions, and measure and report on related 2020 achievements. This includes a particular focus on:
    • Credit Suisse joining the global RE100 initiative and thereby striving to further increase the green power share of electricity consumed in our operations.
    • The goal of reducing single-use plastic items and increasing the share of products made from recycled and reusable materials; our goal is to implement a global roll-out at more than 15 major locations by end-2020.
  • Carbon Trust Standard: Successful recertification for energy and waste management for our UK facilities.

Objectives & Achievements 2019

Objectives Achivements
  • Continue support for sustainable soft commodities, including industry standards, peer collaboration, client advisory and disclosure.
  • We continued to be a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
  • We continued to act as a technical advisor to the Zoological Society of London's Sustainability Policy Transparency Toolkit (SPOTT), and are part of the Technical Advisory Group for the palm oil and the timber and pulp sectors. We also supported the expansion of the SPOTT platform to the natural rubber sector.
  • Maintain and further develop our ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS), including continuous improvements in our environmental performance.
  • We reviewed our ISO14001 documentation and related processes and updated and optimized them where necessary. In particular, we optimized the management and governance of all electronic information using a centralized document management system.
  • Ensure a successful global ISO 14001 surveillance audit under the direction of the certification company SGS.
  • We successfully passed the surveillance certification audits according to the ISO 14001:2015 Standard under the direction of the certification company SGS. Credit Suisse did not receive any Corrective Action Requests (CARs) in the 2019 audit.
  • Continue to increase the green power share of electricity consumed in our operations.
  • All electricity as well as all gas contracts in which Credit Suisse is a direct contractual partner and which were put out to tender and awarded in 2019 are 100% renewable and therefore in line with our new 2025 environmental objectives. By the end of 2019, our global electricity consumption drew from 90% renewable sources.
  • Further strengthen the strategy for managing the Group's operational footprint, including consideration of multi-year environmental objectives.
  • We have updated and improved our environmental objectives strategy for our operations, in accordance with our Environmental Management System, our internal policies and our public statements on sustainability and climate change. We have formulated a set of new environmental objectives that we seek to achieve by 2025.
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