Supporting the community

Some of the events held in 2018 included:

• More than 1,000 people attended meetings hosted by Arion Research at the Bank's headquarters and throughout the country. Some meetings were also streamed live on Facebook.
  
  
• Numerous customers and other guests attended informative meetings on pensions organized by the Bank. The Bank and Vera Center joined forces to hold a meeting in English on pension issues for foreign nationals living and working in Iceland.
  
  
• Arion Bank was one of the main partners of the Seafood Conference held at Harpa Concert Hall during the year. The Bank presented the results of its analysis of the fisheries sector and took part in a panel discussion.
  
  
• Arion Bank regularly organizes art exhibitions and lectures on visual arts at its headquarters. The Bank now owns around 1,250 works of art by many of Iceland's leading artists and many of these works are on display at Arion Bank's branches and places of work.
  
  
• The Startup Reykjavik Investor Day was held at the Bank’s headquarters for the seventh time.
  
  
• The final round of the Junior Achievement Iceland was held at the Bank’s headquarters, with over 20 student teams competing for awards.
  
  
• More than 1,000 university students visited the Bank to learn about the business.

Giving back to the community

Arion Bank collaborates with numerous organizations and companies and supports a wide range of good causes in the community. For example, we partner the Iceland Design Centre, the Icelandic Handball Association, the Icelandic Sports Association for the Disabled, NKG Innovation Competition and the National Olympic and Sports Association of Iceland. In addition the branches support diverse issues in their home towns.

• Arion Bank is a partner of the Iceland Design Centre under a 3-year agreement signed in 2016. This partnership includes Arion Bank’s support for DesignMarch, one of the Iceland Design Centre’s main venues for promoting Icelandic design and ingenuity. The DesignMatch event was hosted at our headquarters as part of DesignMarch. It has been described as a kind of trade fair where Icelandic designers are given the opportunity to meet international buyers and manufacturers and to present their ideas and designs.
  
  
• The Bank is one of the partners of the National Olympic and Sports Association and it provides strong support to the association with the goal of promoting sport in Iceland and participation in international events by Icelandic competitors.
  
  
• Arion Bank is one of the main partners of the Icelandic Sports Association for the Disabled and is helping athletes prepare to compete at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo.
  
  
• Arion Bank is one of the main partners of the Icelandic Handball Association and has providing backing for the sport in Iceland for many years.
  
  
• Arion Bank supports the Icelandic Forestry Association, helping to fund an initiative to further increase public knowledge of forests, provide information and improve access to forests for recreational purposes. The Bank also provides funding to plant trees.
  
  
• During the year the Bank signed a partnership deal with the Iceland Touring Association (FÍ) and will become its main partner over the next three years. Arion Bank will team up with FÍ on a number of projects including developing and maintaining hiking trails and mountain huts for the benefit of all outdoor enthusiasts. The partnership will also promote issues such as protecting the environment and mountain safety.
  
  
• Arion Bank renewed a 3-year deal with Víkingur Reykjavík FC on holding the Arion Bank Football Tournament. Every year 2,500 boys and girls take part in the tournament.
  
  
• The campaign Plastic-free September was held for the second time in 2018. Arion Bank supported the campaign and encouraged employees and customers to reduce their use of single-use plastic as much as they could. This campaign ties in well with the Bank’s environment policy which also aims to reduce the use of plastic.

We also provide support to a number of charities including the Icelandic Cancer Society and the Icelandic Red Cross, and our branches support diverse sport and cultural activities in their home towns.