Kotak Mahindra Bank

In terms of senior leadership accountability, the responsibility for sustainability issues within the financial institution lies with the board level CSR and ESG Committee. Moreover, the financial institution has identified and prioritised its impacts through a materiality assessment process which included feedback from external stakeholders. Regarding engagement, the financial institution publishes case studies describing where it has engaged both successfully and unsuccessfully with clients and investees on sustainability themes and impact topics. Kotak Mahindra Bank also discloses a list of trade associations of which it is a member including sustainability- and non-sustainability-related organisations.

KMAMC, Kotak Mahindra Bank’s asset management company, is a member of Climate Action 100+ so collectively engages with its clients on the topic of climate change.

Kotak Mahindra Bank has a grievance mechanism accessible to all workers to raise human rights concerns or complaints. It also commits to respect the health and safety of workers in a public policy document. The financial institution discloses the amount of finance it directs towards SMEs, as well as the proportion of women in its total direct operations workforce for each employee category.

In terms of its approach to senior leadership accountability, there is no evidence that the financial institution links the remuneration of its executive or management teams to sustainability performance criteria. Women are also underrepresented on the board of directors – only two out of 12 board members are women. Moreover, the financial institution has an opportunity to reach at least 40% female representation in senior leadership positions – currently only 13% of senior management are women. Additionally, the financial institution could disclose the actions it takes to address any pay gaps. Regarding engagement, Kotak Mahindra Bank has an opportunity to describe its engagement approach on sustainability themes and impact topics with clients and investees, across all of its financing activities.

There is no evidence that Kotak Mahindra Bank has a target to reach net-zero financed emissions by 2050 or discloses its financing activities devoted to climate solutions. Moreover, no evidence of an approach to fossil fuels, which covers the entire fossil fuel value chain and all of the financial institution’s financing activities, was found in the public domain. This could include the amount or share of finance directed towards fossil fuels, or the financial institutions stance on financing companies with new fossil fuel projects. The financial institution has an opportunity to disclose the key sectors and companies it has identified as priorities to engage with on climate change, specifically on alignment with the Paris Agreement. Regarding nature and biodiversity, Kotak Mahindra Bank could commit to minimising its negative impacts.

There is no evidence that Kotak Mahindra Bank has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights laid out in the UNGPs and the ILO declaration on fundamental rights at work. To support transparency on financial inclusivity, the financial institution could disclose the amount of finance directed towards usually excluded groups or low-income developing countries.