The journey

Ever since it was founded, Arion Bank has endeavoured to provide responsible banking services. In 2016 the sustainability policy was updated and introduced to the Bank’s employees. Since then a number of projects have been launched concerning social and environmental issues.

In November 2015 Arion Bank was one of 104 signatories to the City of Reykjavík and Festa’s Declaration on Climate Change. One of the main tasks concerning climate change is to map the environmental impact of our operations and we have published an environmental accounting table every year since 2016. In order to reduce emissions we have taken measures including investing in electric cars and our employees have been encouraged to reduce waste.

In 2018 Arion Bank was recognized as a company which had achieved excellence in corporate governance. Arion Bank first received this accolade at the beginning of 2016 following a formal assessment conducted in 2015. The assessment is based on guidelines on corporate governance issued by the Icelandic Chamber of Commerce, the Confederation of Icelandic Employers, and Nasdaq Iceland. This is important confirmation that the Bank is practising good corporate governance, which is a fundamental component of the Bank's strategy on sustainability.

Arion Bank has been a signatory to the UN Global Compact, the UN’s initiative on sustainability, since the end of 2016 and we submit a progress report to the UN every year. The compact sets out 10 principles on human rights, the labour market, the environment and anti-corruption.

Arion Bank has been a signatory to the UN Global Compact, the UN’s initiative on sustainability, since the end of 2016 and we submit a progress report to the UN every year.

Arion Bank is an active participant in shaping and developing responsible investment in Iceland and has representatives in the board and working groups in IcelandSIF, Iceland Sustainable Investment Forum. Arion Bank was also one of the founder members of the organization in 2017.

In late 2017 the Bank became a signatory to the United Nations Principles on Responsible Investment (UN PRI). In 2018 Institutional Asset Management at Arion Bank set out to map and analyze all companies listed on the main market of Nasdaq Iceland with respect to their performance in terms of sustainability. Further information on the implementation of responsible investments is contained in the chapter Asset Management.

In the autumn of 2018 Arion Bank was awarded the Ministry of Welfare’s equal pay symbol after having been certified by the standards agency BSI á Íslandi. The Bank originally achieved equal pay certification in 2015 and has undergone a pay analysis every year since. The Bank has achieved a great deal in equality issues in recent years and this is discussed in more detail in the section on Human Resources.

During the second half of 2018, the Bank introduced new credit rules which require sustainability to be taken into account as far as possible in the lending process. The Bank’s credit committees received training on sustainability and all employees had the opportunity to attend a course on sustainability of the Bank during the year.

During the second half of 2018, the Bank introduced new credit rules which require sustainability to be taken into account as far as possible in the lending process.

Arion Bank has a steering committee on sustainability. The committee is made up of the managing directors of Asset Management and Corporate Banking and the heads of Human Resources, Marketing and Corporate Communications. The project manager is from the CEO's Office and the CEO is responsible for the committee’s activities.

The ideas produced at the teamwork sessions on the Arion Day 2016 provided the basis for the Bank’s strategy on sustainability and the selection of focus areas and main stakeholders. The executive management also took part in workshops on sustainability and interviews were conducted with internal stakeholders and board members. We listen to our stakeholders and realize the importance of talking to and listening to these different groups and finding out what matters most to them. See section on stakeholder engagement.