UBS

In terms of senior leadership accountability, UBS links the remuneration of its executive team to sustainability performance criteria. Regarding its approach towards impact management, the financial institution acknowledges that its financing activities have both positive and negative impacts. It also identified and prioritised its impacts through a materiality assessment process which included feedback from external stakeholders. The bank discloses an overview of its transactions and clients assessed by the Sustainability and Climate Risk Unit as well an overview of its investor engagement actitivies by its asset management division. It also publishes case studies describing where it has engaged successfully with clients and investees on sustainability themes and impact topics.

UBS has set a target of net-zero financed emissions by 2050. Regarding engagement, the bank discloses the key sectors it has identified as priorities to engage with on climate change, and the rationale for choosing these priorities. Moreover, subsidiary, UBS Asset Management discloses that it is a member of Climate Action 100+ and that alignment with the Paris Agreement is one of its engagement topics. UBS discloses absolute financed emissions related to its lending to fossil fuel sector and discusses the underlying data quality. The bank is also committed to minimising its negative impacts on nature and biodiversity and discloses the financing criteria it uses to ensure the protection of nature and biodiversity.

UBS has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights. Moreover, it discloses categories of stakeholders whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities. The bank also has a grievance mechanism accessible to all workers to raise human rights complaints or concerns. UBS has a publicly available policy statement which shows it is committed to respecting the health and safety of workers as well as a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption. In terms of diversity, UBS discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce for each employee category by gender, age group, employment term and region. The bank also discloses the amount of loans and advances it directs towards small- and medium-sized enterprises.

There is no evidence that UBS links the remuneration of its management team to sustainability performance criteria. In terms of female representation in leadership positions, women are underrepresented on the board of directors where only four out of 12 board members are women. Moreover, there is no evidence that the financial institution discloses the ratio of basic salary and remuneration of women to men in its total direct operations workforce for each employee category. While UBS describes its approach to engagement escalation in asset management activities, there is no evidence that the bank describes how it escalates its relationships with clients across its financing activities.

In addition to UBS’s interim target for lending to fossil fuel sectors, the bank has an opportunity to disclose interim targets which cover all its financing activities and all sectors. Subsidiary, UBS Asset Management discloses that it requires its investees to showcase a progress in addressing climate-related topics, though there is no evidence it requires them to set a strategy that is aligned with the Paris Agreement. Regarding climate solutions, UBS provides evidence about its sustainable finance and investments, there is no evidence that it discloses how much is devoted to climate solutions. Furthermore, no evidence was found regarding UBS’s approach to fossil fuels which spans across the fossil fuel value chain and across its financing activities.

UBS has an opportunity to describe a comprehensive process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts across all its activities, especially its financing activities, including factors that are taken into account in the process of identifying human rights risks and impacts. While the bank provides a grievance mechanism accessible to all stakeholders, it could specify that complainants have the option to identify themselves or remain anonymous. To provide transparency on financial inclusivity, UBS has an opportunity to disclose the amount of finance directed towards, for example, women-owned businesses or low-income developing countries.