As part of its objective to lead the banking sector in finding solutions against climate change, as well as in sustainable finance, Akbank has announced a new agreement in line with its strong emphasis on ethical, environmental and social issues. With the sustainability-linked FX agreement signed with NatWest Markets Plc, Akbank took another important step towards achieving its goals in the areas of responsible banking, people and society, ecosystem management and climate change.
Three sustainability performance criteria (ESG KPIs) were added into the agreement signed with NatWest Markets Plc, another institution that puts sustainability at the centre of its strategy. In line with the agreement, Akbank once again emphasized its strong commitment to the following performance criteria; gender balance, no new lending to greenfield coal-power plants and sourcing Akbank’s electricity usage from renewable energy. Akbank reaffirms its commitment to its objectives and targets with this bilateral agreement, which helps further integrate responsible banking and sustainability into its strategy successfully.
Sebnem Muratoglu, Executive Vice President for Treasury at Akbank, said: “We continue to lead the Turkish banking sector in the ESG with our initiatives and activity. This FX agreement, following the first ESG-linked repo agreement in the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa regions signed by our bank in October 2021, once again positions sustainability at the center of our banking approach. We reiterate our commitment not to lend to new coal (thermal) power plant projects, we promise to ensure a balanced gender distribution in our employees, and we state that we will meet our electricity needs from renewable resources. Our bank's innovative ESG strategy continues to be shown as an example, not only in the banking sector, but also in the entire private sector.”
Fabio Madar, Head of Currencies at NatWest, commented on the FX agreement: “We are delighted to have been able to partner with Akbank on aligning their FX trading with ESG KPIs and adopting the concept of ‘sustainability-linked’ to FX. For NatWest, this ESG FX agreement represents the first we have signed with a bank and the first we have signed in Turkey, and is another great example of NatWest’s purpose in action, helping our customers to achieve their ESG goals.”