_{PRESS RELEASE} 

FOR THE TENTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR, INTESA SANPAOLO IS THE ONLY ITALIAN BANK IN THE DOW JONES ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY INDICES 

Milan - Turin, 14 November 2020 - For the tenth year running, Intesa Sanpaolo has been included – as the only Italian bank – in the S&P Global Dow Jones Sustainability Index World and Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe, among the most important global and European stock exchange ESG indices. This announcement confirms Intesa Sanpaolo's ongoing status as one of the most committed groups in the world in terms of economic, social and environmental sustainability, in line with commitments laid down in the 2018-2021 Business Plan. 

Intesa Sanpaolo achieved an overall score of 81 out of 100, compared to an industry average of 39. The Group earned maximum points in the sections dedicated to financial inclusion, customer relations management, anti-crime policies and measures, materiality and environmental and social reporting.

The S&P Dow Jones sustainability indices monitor the performances of the main companies on global securities exchanges, analysing their risk management systems and the opportunities associated with environmental and social impacts. In 2020 approximately 3,500 listed companies were invited to participate in the Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) conducted by SAM, a member of the S&P Global group. The indices use a best-in-class approach for the companies analysed from 61 sectors. Within the finance industry, in 2020 25 banks were included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index World and 10 in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe. 

“Inclusion in this index - among the most authoritative and selective at the international level - is further recognition of the quality of the Group's ESG commitment and its full integration into the company strategy,” commented Stefano Del Punta, Intesa Sanpaolo's Chief Financial Officer. “Supporting responsible growth in a way that is attentive to inclusion, communities and the environment, while also ensuring solidity and transparency and developing human resources, is now a foundational element of company value. At Intesa Sanpaolo we have always cultivated this primary value, and we are now redoubling our efforts in response to the current complex situation.”

 

Media information

Intesa Sanpaolo

Media and Associations Relations - Institutional, Social and Cultural Activities

stampa@intesasanpaolo.com 

About Intesa Sanpaolo

Intesa Sanpaolo is one of the most solid and profitable banks in Europe, providing wealth management, consumer banking, corporate and investment banking, asset management and insurance. As the market leader in Italy, Intesa Sanpaolo serves nearly 12 million customers through digital and traditional channels. The Group’s international subsidiary banks provide for an additional 7.2 million customers in Central Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Intesa Sanpaolo is recognized as one of the most sustainable banks in the world.

The Group believes that value creation should be interpreted broadly, supporting social purpose and driving the real economy. As part of its commitment to sustainable growth, Intesa Sanpaolo has created a €5 billion financing facility dedicated to the circular economy. The Group’s large-scale project for economic inclusion and poverty alleviation includes a Fund for Impact to provide €1.2 billion in loans to those parts of society that find access to credit difficult. Intesa Sanpaolo is deeply committed to cultural initiatives that it promotes on its own and together with partners in Italy and abroad, including permanent and temporary exhibits of the vast artistic patrimony at the Gallerie d’Italia, the Group’s three museums located in Milan, Naples, Vicenza and soon in Torino.

Additional information may be found at group.intesasanpaolo.com | News: https://group.intesasanpaolo.com/en/newsroom/news| Twitter: @intesasanpaolo | Facebook: @intesasanpaolo | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/intesa-sanpaolo | Instagram: @intesasanpaolo  

INTESA SANPAOLO’S COMMITMENT TO ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

Intesa Sanpaolo has always been a trailblazer in the field of sustainability, a commitment that has been reaffirmed by the 2018-2021 Business Plan. This commitment to be an engine of sustainable, inclusive development in Italy has earned Intesa Sanpaolo several recognitions, including inclusion in numerous sustainability indices. 

Environmental sustainability

The Group’s commitment to environmental sustainability has meant that measures to limit its CO₂ emissions (-53% since 2008) have continued thanks to a multi-year action plan, and Intesa Sanpaolo's ongoing offer of green financial products and services, with funding of approximately 2.2 billion euro put towards supporting the Green Economy and Circular Economy. In June 2017, it was the first Italian bank to issue a green bond, for a total amount of 500 million euro, for the financing of projects particularly focused on renewable energy and energy efficiency. The proceeds from the Green Bond have funded 76 projects with an annual savings of approximately 460,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions, equal to more than 2.8 million roundtrip journeys between between Milan and Rome by plane (Green Bond Report 2020). Intesa Sanpaolo, in close partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation for the Circular Economy, has also set up a 5-billion-euro fund and, together with Fondazione Cariplo, launched the very first circular economy lab in Italy. Furthermore, in 2018, the Eurizon Absolute Green Bonds Fund was launched, the first financial instrument to be set up by an Italian asset manager specialising in global bond markets that enables funding to be provided for environmental projects. In November 2019 Intesa Sanpaolo successfully completed the placement of its first Sustainability Bond of 750 million euro, with demand of over 3.5 billion euro, intended to support the loans granted by the Bank as part of the 5-billion-euro fund for the circular economy. 

Social sustainability

During 2019, the Intesa Sanpaolo Group disbursed nearly 3.8 billion euro in new loans for high social impact activities (6.6% of total new loans), helping to create business and employment opportunities, as well as assisting people in difficulty through various means: micro-credit, anti-usury loans, products and services designed for non-profit associations and organisations, products and services dedicated to the most vulnerable social categories to encourage their financial inclusion, and support loans for people affected by disasters. For years now, Intesa Sanpaolo has recognised the importance of assisting non-profit organisations, which received new loans worth approximately 200 million euro in 2019 (approximately 450 million euro since the beginning of 2018). Furthermore, thanks to the Fund for Impact, loans of approximately 1.25 billion euro will also be disbursed to groups struggling to access credit. The first initiative revolved around the “per Merito” loan for students living in Italy, that seeks to structurally provide greater access to Italian and international universities, with no need for guarantors. Loans for 72 million euro have been disbursed thus far (at 30 September 2020). Mamma@work, a highly subsidised loan to balance motherhood and work in their children’s early years of life was launched in July 2020, followed, in August, by XME StudioStation, a loan for families to support distance learning.

Among the measures taken in response to the Covid-19 emergency, donations of over 100 million euro from Intesa Sanpaolo - including those based on the waiver by the Managing Director and CEO and 21 top managers of a total of approximately 6 million euro in bonuses from the 2019 Incentive System - to reinforce Italy's National Health Service through the Department of Civil Protection benefited 16 hospital facilities and two Covid-19 Emergency Centres, resulting in the construction of 36 new wards and 500 beds, primarily in intensive and sub-intensive care.

In 2020 the Intesa Sanpaolo Charity Fund run by the Chairman will have 14 million euro to donate in support of non-profit projects. Of this amount, one million euro, 16%, will be used for medical research on the Covid-19 to combat the coronavirus emergency.