SMBC Group

The financial institution has publicly available policy statements committing to respect ILO core labour rights and expecting suppliers to do the same. It outlines its process for assessing human rights risks, identifies salient human rights issues and engages stakeholders who have been affected by its activities. Furthermore, the institution discloses actions aligning lobbying and public policy with its sustainability strategy.

The financial institution assigns oversight of the sustainability strategy to the highest governance body, with implementation responsibility delegated to various functions, teams, or committees. Additionally, senior executive remuneration is linked to sustainability targets and their stewardship policy supports environmental transitions and social best practices as well as covers client engagement, advocacy, and partnerships.

The financial institution transparently identifies nature-related impacts from its products, services, and capital, as well as prioritizes sectors with significant nature-related impacts. It also has a strategy for nature protection and restoration and engages key sectors, clients, and investees to influence their strategies for nature protection. The institution monitors its scope 1-2 emissions and discloses financial support for women-owned businesses, small and medium-sized enterprises, and low-income countries. Finally, it describes processes for identifying specific human rights risks and impacts related to its offerings.

The financial institution has compensation policies but should clarify how it determines a living wage in its operational regions. It could also include anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in contracts with business partners. While the entity identifies material topics, further detail on the process and criteria for prioritising impacts is required. Furthermore, third-party assurance or verification of target reporting is recommended.

Although the financial institution discloses its membership in sustainability initiatives, a complete list of trade associations is lacking. The financial institution has measurable targets for sustainable finance but should specify the share devoted to climate mitigation. The use of absolute emissions values for the entire portfolio is recommended for financed emissions, along with monitoring other scope 3 categories. Additionally, it has the opportunity to disclose the aggregate amount or share of its provision of products, services and capital devoted to specified nature-positive solutions.

The financial institution should disclose a breakdown of clients by income group and processes to avoid divestment from low-income countries. Additionally, it should identify social risks related to its products and provide examples of actions taken on salient human rights issues from assessments in the last three years.

This scorecard refers to information in English which was publicly available by July 15 2024. AuM and Total assets are stated in USD for comparability and have been calculated based on reported local currency values multiplied by applicable IMF currency converter values.