Banco do Brasil (2019)

Banco do Brasil was the first public bank worldwide to join the group of financial institutions that adhered to the Equator Principles. In July 2006 and June 2013, it formalized its readmission to the pact, in updated versions after a long process of consultations and discussions between banks, customers and civil society organizations.
Socio-environmental issues are addressed by Banco do Brasil in its Credit Specific Policy. In it, the Bank defines that the socio-environmental responsibility and the capacity to generate employment and income of the enterprise should be considered in the decision on operations with credit risk. In addition, the policy emphasizes that the Bank does not assume credit risk with a client that is responsible for intentional damage to the environment, to submit workers to degrading forms of labor or keep them in conditions akin to slave labor, in which sexual exploitation of minors or child labor is practiced. The materialization of this orientation is given by the inclusion in all Credit Instruments of specific clauses with the commitment of the borrower not to use slave labor and child labor and also not to discriminate by race or gender. In addition, provision is made for the suspension of the transfer of resources and the early maturity of the debt, in case the borrower breaches said clauses.

The flow of the credit process in Banco do Brasil starts in the commercial area, which directly serves the customer. Clients who comply with the Equator Principles are oriented towards their application and to whether or not to hire an independent socio-environmental consulting.

Subsequently, the environmental documentation is analyzed by advisers in a credit analysis department where it is and then made Socio-environmental Assessment Report is granted by a Credit Committee.

The projects assessed by Banco do Brasil are classified in a socio-environmental risk matrix that identifies relevant impacts and risks and management measures. Category A covers projects in which the potential risk or adverse socio-environmental impact is significant, multiple, irreversible or without a precedent. Category B, in turn, covers the projects that have the potential of risks and adverse socio-environmental impacts limited, in a lower number, extensively reversible and immediately controllable by using mitigation measures. Category C covers initiatives in which minimal or no adverse environmental and social risks and/or impacts. In all requests for financing categorized as A or B, Banco do Brasil requires the customer to develop or maintain an environmental and social management system. Furthermore, in high-risk cases it may be necessary to ask the customer to provide additional evaluation documentation, with a specific due diligence on human rights.

That process provides the expertise of employees involved with the application of the Principles. Benefits include better control and monitoring of projects, the greater range of risks vision, the ability to better mitigate environmental risks, reputation, credit, legal and positive approach to shareholders, customers and employees.

For more information on the application of the Equator Principles to Banco do Brasil, see the Annual Report 2019, available here, or the sustainability page available here.