CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Conclusion
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices have become increasingly important for
banks around the world, including the top 10 banks in the UK. These practices not only
contribute to the overall economic development of a country but also play a crucial role in
shaping a bank's public image and reputation. The analysis presented in the previous sections
highlights the importance of CSR practices in the banking sector. It is evident that
engagement in social activities helps banks establish themselves as responsible service
providers and contribute to the socio-economic development of the communities they operate
in. By actively participating in CSR initiatives, banks can generate long-term competitive
profits while addressing ethical considerations and fulfilling their philanthropic visions for
social welfare. The banking sector recognizes the importance of CSR practices in enhancing
its public image, reputation, and overall performance. By aligning their operations with
societal expectations, banks can position themselves as responsible and ethical institutions,
fostering trust and loyalty among stakeholders. The benefits of CSR practices extend beyond
financial performance and include improved employee morale, customer satisfaction, and
investor confidence. As banks continue to navigate the dynamic business landscape,
integrating effective CSR practices will play a crucial role in their long-term success.
Moreover, CSR practices also influence a bank's internal stakeholders. By implementing CSR
initiatives, banks can improve employee morale, productivity, and performance while
minimizing labour problems. This positive impact on employees translates into better
customer service and satisfaction. Overall, this study emphasises the need for banks to adopt
and implement CSR practices, both to meet societal expectations and to secure their position
in the market. By embracing CSR, banks can contribute to sustainable growth, create
opportunities for innovation and development, and establish long-term trust with their
stakeholders. The successful implementation of CSR initiatives requires careful management,
strategic decision-making, and a commitment to balancing costs and benefits.
Overview of the Research Findings
The researcher’s quantitative analysis of the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
practices on the public image of ten banks (HSBC, NatWest Group, TSB, Lloyds,
MetroBank, Barclays, Standard Chartered, Santander Group, Co-operative Bank, and Sterling
Bank) in their 2022 annual reports reveals interesting findings. The analysis focused on three
key areas: environmental sustainability, social welfare, and ethical practices. It considered the
categories and disclosure of elements in the CSR reports and assessed their impact on the
public image of the respective banks.
HSBC
HSBC's CSR report highlighted initiatives such as carbon offsetting, pollution reduction,
paper use, and waste recycling. According to HSBC Annual Report for 2022, HSBC
Corporate Services capital investments in 2022 were $708.7 m cash / $58.2 m P&L, driven
by capital spend on their real estate portfolio including offices, retail branches and data
centres. Their investments support the Banks strategic initiatives including investing in their
buildings to be more sustainable and supporting carbon net zero commitments. They also
continued to invest in the future of workplace, and further enhance the client and colleague
experience while providing a productive, healthy and safe environment. Finally, they also
invest in optimising the footprint and continuously aim to reduce waste. However, there was
no significant impact on the bank's public image, and the financial statement did not reflect a
material impact of these policies (HSBC HOLDINGS PLC ESG Data Pack FY 2022).
HSBC’s focus on diversity and inclusion showed positive results. After achieving the
ambition of having 30% of senior leadership positions held by women in 2020, they set a new
goal to reach 35% by 2025. This track has been maintained with 33.3% of senior leadership
roles held by women at the end of 2022, an increase of 1.6 percentage points since 2021. A
total 35.7% of all external appointments into senior positions were female, down from 37.8%
in 2021, and 38.1% of all promotions into senior leadership roles were female. Guided by
data and colleague feedback in HSBC, the pillars of HSBC’s well-being programme are
mental, physical, financial and social well-being. In an employee Snapshot survey carried out
in September, 2022, 70% of their colleagues said they believe HSBC cares about their well-
being (HSBC Annual Report and Account, 2022). This significantly affects the public image
of the firm.
HSBC's customer satisfaction and safeguarding customer data efforts had mixed results. Net
promoter scores (NPS) improved in some areas of the business, while there is still work to be
done in others. Aligned to the purpose of opening up a world of opportunity, HSBC stated,
through their Annual Report and Account 2022, that they are committed to identifying and
removing the different barriers customers face in accessing financial services. In 2022, they
contributed to this through several initiatives, including the launch of a $1bn lending fund to
invest in female-owned businesses. They introduced new processes to support refugees
fleeing the conflict in Ukraine so they can access the financial services they need to set up a
new life in the UK. They also sponsor the Hong Kong Lutheran Social Service to develop the
‘Health dollar fun’ app to boost digital literacy among the elderly. Overall, the impact on the
public image is not clearly specified (HSBC HOLDINGS PLC ESG Data Pack FY 2022).
NatWest Group
NatWest Group’s climate ambition is to be a leading bank in the UK, helping address the
climate challenge. The firm was awarded The Sustainable Markets Initiative’s 2022 Terra
Carta Seal. £32.6bn was expended by the firm as part of its cumulative contribution towards
£100bn climate and sustainable funding and financing target: £24.5bn in 2022 and £8.1bn in
2021 (between 1st July to 31st December). In Q3 2022, they launched the NatWest Group
Carbon Planner, a free-to-use digital platform designed to help UK businesses identify
potential cost and carbon savings. Carbon Planner surfaces personalised recommendations
from more than 40 actions, across nine areas, which UK businesses can take to reduce their
carbon footprint and potentially operating costs. Actions include improving insulation,
introducing a packaging return programme, electric vehicle adoption and generating energy
from waste. As at 31 December 2022, more than 330,000 customers had accessed carbon
tracking features on the Retail app. Hence, NatWest Group's carbon offsetting, pollution
reduction, paper use, and waste recycling practices had a significant impact on the public
image of the firm, as evidenced by a 61% score in the 2022 S&P Global Corporate
Sustainability Assessment.
NatWest Group’s focus on diversity and inclusion resulted in a high representation of diverse
individuals within the organization. This had a significant impact on the public image.
Colleague sentiment on inclusivity remained strong in 2022, maintaining a score of 93%, 9%
above the Global Financial Services Norm and 8% above the Global High-Performance
Norm. In 2022, NatWest Group added socio-economic background as a focus area, allowing
for a more intersectional approach. They asked colleagues to share their socio-economic
background for the first time in their colleague survey, Our View. They also participated in
the City of London Socio-Economic Diversity Taskforce Survey, contributing 1,000 of the
9,000 total entries. In September 2022, the firm won the Diverse Company Award at the
National Diversity Awards. The awards honour charities, role models and community heroes
who embrace diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I), to empower and inspire the wide
breadth of diverse communities across the UK. At the end of 2022, they also started a
returners initiative to focus on hiring more senior female talent, where they will be building a
pipeline of senior female candidates. The firm employs regular interactions with employee
representatives such as trade unions, elected employee bodies and works councils as vital
means of transparency and engagement. The firm have a target to have full gender balance in
their CEO-3 and above global roles by 2030. At 31st December 2022, they had 40% women
in the CEO-3 and above global roles, an increase of 2% since 31 December 2021. This
reflects a 11% increase since the targets were introduced in 2015. In 2022, FTSE 100 Women
Leaders, previously the Hampton-Alexander Review, ranked them 26th (up from 49th in the
2021 FTSE 100 ‘Women on Boards and Leadership’ rankings).
NatWest Group's commitment to customer satisfaction and safeguarding customer data had a
positive impact on the firm, leading to an increase in the customer base in 2022. Their end-to-
end product-lifecycle process is designed to keep customers and the firm safe while
delivering a financial return, with the use of tools such as: YES check; ‘Our Code’; the
‘Critical People Capabilities’; and their internal ‘Policies’ and ‘Risk Standards’. NatWest
Group Risk Standards and Policy documents focus on risks associated with the design,
management and sale of products and services, as well as their complaint management
process, and how the firm support customers in vulnerable situations. Their product
governance-related risk standards and policies are designed to drive delivery of safe and
sustainable products and services as well as enabling growth, customer retention and
customer satisfaction.
TSB
In 2022, TSB made a number of climate commitments and formed climate related
partnerships which are designed to further reduce the carbon emissions from their operations.
Some these action plan includes initial training to provide all colleagues with an
understanding of climate related risks and opportunities and how these are managed within
TSB. To support the Do What Matters Plan 2025 (a TSB initiative), and to demonstrate their
long-term commitment to protecting the environment, TSB created a Sustainability team in
2022. Their target to maintain business travel at below 50% of 2019 volumes was achieved,
despite colleagues returning to offices more frequently in 2022. The overall business travel
emissions for 2022 were 32% of 2019 volumes. The organization supports hybrid ways of
working and promote alternative modes of transport to maintain this reduction. Additionally,
79% recycling rate across all waste streams was achieved by TSB in 2022 (TSB Bank plc
Annual Report and Accounts 2022). However, impact of TSB's environmental sustainability
practices on the public image is not specified.
TSB was recognized as one of the leading firms promoting diversity and inclusion through
increased employment of women. This positively impacted the public image of the bank.
Their gender balance, combined with inclusion activities, such as the undernoted gender-
neutral parental leave policy, saw them recognised as a Times Top 50 Employer for Women
(TSB Bank plc Annual Report and Accounts 2022). At TSB, a broad approach to diversity
and inclusion is taken, with four intersectional inclusion networks focusing on promoting
better gender balance, ethnicity, LGBTQ+, and disability inclusion (TSB Do What Matters:
our 2025 plan). In July 2022, the firm announced support for over three-quarters of
colleagues impacted by the increased cost of living providing an additional payment of £500
in October 2022 with a further £500 to be paid in February 2023 (TSB Bank plc Annual
Report and Accounts 2022).
The impact of TSB's ethical practices on customer satisfaction and safeguarding customer
data is not specified. They established an initiative known as ‘The Link’. The Link is a forum
for employees across all levels and all parts of TSB with two regional groups (north and
south). It gathers and builds on employee feedback and enables meaningful dialogue between
employees, the Executive leadership and the Board on a wide range of topics. Throughout
2022, The Link focused on areas such as the Fraud Refund Guarantee, the TSB strategy
refresh, and colleague related matters including colleague experience, reward optimisation
and career confidence. The outputs from every meeting of The Link are presented to the
Executive Committee to help inform TSB’s decision making. As at 2022, the bank remains
the only bank with a Fraud Refund Guarantee, refunding over 97% of customers who are
innocent victims of fraud, compared to an industry average of 56%. Four out of five (79%) of
fraud victims were refunded within five days or less (TSB Bank plc Annual Report and
Accounts 2022). However, the significant impact of this initiative is not reflected ono the
bank’s public image.
Lloyds
Lloyds' environmental sustainability practices had no significant impact on the public image
of the firm. Building on their net zero ambitions for financed and operational emissions,
Lloyd have set out a new Group ambition to reduce the emissions from their suppliers by at
least 50 per cent by 2030, on the path to net zero by 2050 or sooner. In line with their
strategy, in 2022, they have provided over £2.1 billion of funding to electric and plug-in
hybrid vehicles and delivered £3.5 billion for green mortgages, helping to drive growth in
these sectors. They have also provided £7.9 billion to corporate and institutional customers
over in 2022 to support them as they transition. Through Scottish Widows they have also
invested £11.7 billion in climate aware strategies over the past year. As part of their plan to
reduce water consumption by 40% by 2030, whose baseline was set in 2009, the organisation
achieved 48.8% in 2021 and 50.3% in 2022. In the aspect of operational waste reduction
which is set for 80% by 2025, Lloyd has achieved 72.2% in 2022 (72.0% as at 2021),
although the baseline was 2014/15 (Lloyds Banking Group Environmental Sustainability
Report 2022).
Lloyd bank is committed to promoting diversity in its workforce and aims to have senior
roles occupied by women by 2025, with a 50% increase in representation. This commitment
positively affects the public image. The strengthening Lloyd’s senior leadership team is also
delivering on their inclusion and diversity objectives. In addition, they restructured their
business and technology teams to set up a new platform-based operating model that brings
together expertise in cross cutting, multi-functional teams to now drive greater accountability
and collaboration and help to effect more quickly and efficiently. During 2022, the
organisation increased the representation of Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority colleagues in
senior roles from 8.8 to 10.2 per cent and increased the representation of Black heritage
colleagues in senior roles by 0.4 to 1.4 per cent. The Board continues to meet the Parker
Review recommendation of at least one Black, Asian or Ethnic Minority Board member.
During 2022, they have seen an increase in women in senior roles to 39.4 per cent, showing a
progress towards meeting their 2025 target of 50% women in senior roles (Lloyds Banking
Group Annual Report and Accounts 2022).
Lloyds' customer satisfaction and safeguarding customer data efforts resulted in an average
score of 74%. The impact on the public image is not clearly specified. Their all-channel net
promoter score measures the customer perception of day-to-day services across their channels
and remained strong in 2022 with 67.7 score. Based on FCA reportable complaints per 1,000
accounts, the bank customer complaints were at the score of 2.70 in H1 2022, which reduced
further and are amongst the lowest in the industry (H2 2022 data was not available at time of
their 2022 annual report and accounts publication). However, the customer complaints as at
H2 2021, H1 2021, H2 2020 and H1 2020 were at the score of 2.77, 2.76, 2.89 and 2.62
respectively.
Metro Bank
The bank has been commitment to reducing carbon footprint – and supporting their
colleagues, suppliers, customers and communities in doing so too. Their target is to make
operations net zero by 2030. There has been reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions of 17%
from 2021 to 2022, driven by transition to full REGO-backed electricity. Renewable Energy
Guarantee of Origin (REGO) scheme denotes energy that is generated from renewable
sources. At the end of 2022 their reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions since 2019 stood at
93%, driven by the bank’s transition to REGO-backed electricity. Also, At the end of 2022,
emissions generated from paper use across their stores and offices has reduced by over 90%.
Additionally, emissions generated from business travel were 78% lower than our baseline
year of 2019. Since autumn 2022 all electricity used across their stores and offices is
delivered from 100% renewable sources (Metro Bank PLC Annual Report and Accounts
2022).
Metro Bank was named as a top ten inclusive company at the British LGBT Awards 2022,
nominated for Company of the Year at the European Diversity Awards and a finalist at the
British Recruitment Awards. This portrays the bank’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
The strategies that were put in place to achieve these feats include: Connection and
community; Equity for all; and Inclusive culture. The Connection and community strategy
offer all colleagues a paid ‘Day to AMAZE’, to spend time volunteering in their local
community or working with charities. The number of colleagues taking up this opportunity
increased by 75% in 2022. The bank also took into cognisance the gender pay gap that is due
to a lower proportion of women in senior positions which causes lower average levels of pay
compared to the male population. This is a common phenomenon in the financial service
industry. However, their median gender pay gap of 12.2% compares with a national average
gender pay gap of 14.9% across all industries, calculated by the Office for National Statistics
in October 2022 (Metro Bank PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2022)
Over the past three years, Metro bank have re-optimised their balance sheet, focusing on
more underserved and higher-yielding areas of the markets, including consumer lending.
Most recently this has seen them launch a motor finance product late in 2022. Their
commitment to customer services increased their chances to be voted as one of the UK’s top
10 Most Loved Workplaces in 2022. Their key performance indicator (KPI) score for
customer satisfaction in 2022 was 85. Safe management of personal data is taken seriously.
The bank joined the Stop Scams UK 159 hotline so it is easier and faster for their customers
to report fraudulent activity (Metro Bank PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2022).
Barclays
Barclays' CSR practices related to environmental sustainability had a moderate impact on its
public image. This was achieved through several initiatives. As part of their commitment to
Climate Group’s EV100 initiative, they are transitioning their global fleet to electric vehicles.
By the end of 2022, 55% of Barclays’ UK fleet was converted to electric. To support the
programme, the firm increased the number of EV charging stations across their global
locations, which as of the end of 2022 totals approximately 500 stations. In February 2022,
Barclays signed a 10-year PPA in support of Barclays' goal of sourcing renewable electricity
to power our global real estate portfolio by 2025. Through this PPA, Barclays will support
Creag Riabhach, an onshore wind farm project in Scotland. This PPA will avoid
approximately 30,000 tonnes of CO2e per year. In addition, the Creag Riabhach project is
expected to provide social and environmental benefits through new employment
opportunities within the local area and the Scottish economy, supporting a local community
benefit fund, and establishing a riparian tree planting programme to promote soil
conservation and habitat biodiversity. In 2022, the firm produced 5,616 tonnes of waste
across our sites, 69% of which was recycled. Due to return to the office, post-COVID, they
experience an increase in waste produced compared to the previous year (Barclays PLC
Annual Report 2022).
The impact of Barclays' social welfare practices, specifically diversity and inclusion, on the
public image is not specified. During 2022, Barclay helped colleagues to adapt to hybrid
working, supported colleague wellbeing and made further progress against diversity, equity
and inclusion (DEI) ambitions. Through their colleague listening survey, Your View, they
saw improved scores across all indices. A set ambition to double the number of Black
Managing Directors in the UK and US by the end of 2022 was achieved, going from nine to
18. The bank increased their female representation at Director/Managing Director grades to
29%, in line with their gender ambitions of 33% female representation at this level by 2025
(Barclays PLC Annual Report 2022).
Barclays' commitment to customer satisfaction and safeguarding customer data through the
use of novel technology positively impacted its public image, gaining more trust and loyalty
from customers. Throughout 2022 they experienced increased customer satisfaction scores in
their surveys and a reduction in complaints year on year. Barclays have an established
programme to educate customers and prevent them from falling victim to scams. Barclays
have also launched a new Fraud and Scams hub on the Barclays website, which hosts a
variety of content and resources to help the public learn how to keep themselves safe.
Additionally, to help keep the customers safe, they continued to invest in multi-layered
security systems that protect against fraud and scams. The launch of ‘Authorised Users’ in
June 2022, enables Barclays customers to digitally and instantly add someone that they trust
to their current account to support them with spending on their behalf or supervising their
account (Barclays PLC Annual Report 2022).
Standard Chartered
The impact of Standard Chartered's environmental sustainability practices on the public
image is not specified. As part of the bank’s aim to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050,
their newly-formed transition finance team have been working closely with the clients in
hard-to-abate sectors on their own transition planning. This is in addition to their plan to
mobilise $300 billion of Sustainable Finance between 2021 and 2030. Throughout 2022, they
have begun measuring additional categories of Scope 3 emissions including waste, employee
commuting and downstream leased assets. They reduced the Scope 1 and 2 emissions by
more than 42 per cent to 49,434 tonnes during 2022. This has been possible through a
consumption reduction of 3 per cent to 177.3 GWh through energy-efficient investment, plus
a 12 per cent increase in renewable energy (being through direct power purchase agreements,
green utilities and renewable energy certificates) and across the portfolio. In 2022, the firm
took the following steps to reduce carbon emission: developed 2030 emissions baseline and
targets for Aviation, Shipping and Automotive Manufacturers; joined Partnership for Carbon
Accounting Financials (PCAF); and developed capabilities for and commenced quarterly
external reporting against key sustainability measures (Standard Chartered – Annual Report
2022).
The impact of Standard Chartered's social welfare practices, including diversity and
inclusion, on the public image is not specified. In 2022, the bank started to report and monitor
supplier D&I (Diversity and Inclusion) indicators across our footprint, and 93% of their core
markets now have supplier D&I programmes to help accelerate progress and impact in their
local communities. So far, more than 1,500 employees have been trained internally to build
capability to deliver our supplier D&I aims. To complement the legislative approach in the
UK, the firm calculate an adjusted pay gap, which compares women and men at the same
hierarchy level and in the same business area. Mirroring previous years, the narrow margins
for the adjusted pay gap analysis indicate that female and male colleagues in the same
business areas and at the same levels of seniority are paid similarly. They carry out checks
during hiring, promotion and year-end review in all markets to challenge potential bias and
ensure there is equal pay for equal work (Standard Chartered – Annual Report 2022).
No information is provided regarding Standard Chartered' ethical initiative impact on the
public image, although the annual report of the bank stated that there was an improved client
satisfaction rating evidenced in surveys and internal benchmarks. In the aspect of client
satisfaction (network, affluent, mass, ventures), under measurement of performance against
financial and other strategic and personal measures, the bank rates 12% improvement. Given
the progress made by the Board Financial Crime Risk Committee (BFCRC) in respect to
financial crime risk management, the 2020 Board effectiveness review highlighted the
potential for the work of the BFCRC to be reallocated to a combination of the Board Risk
Committee, the Audit Committee and the Board. Feedback from the 2021 Board
effectiveness review indicated broad support for this approach. In light of this, the Board
agreed to reallocate the work with effect from 1 April 2022. The reallocation of BFCRC
oversight enables a more holistic and efficient examination and discussion of risks that are
closely linked, such as fraud, information and cyber security and financial crime. The
BFCRC held one meeting in 2022 where it reviewed the agenda and confirmed the
reallocation of each item into the new structure (Standard Chartered – Annual Report 2022).
Santander Group
The bank’s Net Zero strategy envisages that the entire Santander Group will be zero-carbon
by 2050. The reduction includes both internal emissions, caused by electricity consumption
or business travel, but also emissions that result from their financing – lending, advisory or
investment services provided to clients from all segments. As part of the regulatory exercises,
in 2022, Grupo Santander also took part in the ECB's climate risk stress test, Pillar III ESG
disclosure and Thematic Review on climate and environmental risks. In 2022, the Risk, SCIB
and Responsible Banking areas launched initiatives to achieve the Group's decarbonization
target for power generation, which will be included in risk appetite. In this regard, they
announced their first decarbonization target for power generation (0.11 tCO2e/MWh by
2030) as part of the NZBA (Net-Zero Banking Alliance) in their Climate finance report. The
Group's total emissions increased in 2022 by 18%, due to the employee travel emissions. In
the last two years the Covid-19 pandemic caused these emissions to plummet. Comparing
these emissions with 2019 annual report data, prior to this exceptional situation, employee
travel emissions have been reduced by 33%, and total emissions have been reduced by 58%
(Santander Annual Report 2022).
In 2022, the Santander Group’s responsible banking, sustainability and culture committee
reviewed diversity and inclusion strategy, initiatives and 2025 targets, and discussed the
associated Inclusion action plan for relevant dimensions of diversity, providing feedback and
challenge on the same, as well as the Group's relative position in global rankings. They also
reviewed their talent management programme and employee wellbeing. Women in senior
leadership positions increased from 26.3% in 2021 to 29.3%, which is ahead of 2022 target of
27.9% (Santander Annual Report 2022).
With regards to customer satisfaction, Santander Group were ranked in the top 3 in NPS in 8
of their markets in 2022. In the year, they conducted over five million surveys to monitor
customer feedback about Santander and find out how they can improve our products and
services and, ultimately, customers’ experience (Santander Annual Report 2022).
Co-operative Bank
The Co-operative bank is committed to environment sustainability through their Net Zero
target to reduce direct scope 1 & 2 emissions related to energy consumption by 6% in 2023
with a Net Zero status by 2030 and develop a robust programme of work as to decarbonise
the bank and achieve Net Zero status by 2050. There was no fuel used to power emergency
generators or emissions from the use of fire suppression systems in 2022. All electricity
sourced directly by The Co-operative Bank is REGO-backed renewable electricity.
Renewable electricity is zero rated for carbon offsetting, therefore all electricity purchased
directly by The Co-operative Bank is excluded from the offsetting calculation. Having
achieved a 33% year-on-year decrease in operational greenhouse gas emissions in 2022, the
bank has now achieved a 70% reduction on a 2019 baseline. In 2022, colleagues from across
their branches and offices recycled 74% of waste, with the remaining 26% sent to energy
recovery facilities. This is an improvement on the starting year in 2020, when only 41% of
waste was recycled (Co-Operative (Bank 2022-sustainability-report).
Co-operative bank has 5 inclusion networks are run by colleagues for colleagues: Proud
Together - which represents LGBTQ+ colleagues across the Bank and offers support and
information; Elevate - the Bank's gender inclusion network, offering support to colleagues on
gender-based issues and topic areas, supporting women in the workplace and supporting all
colleagues in promoting the wellbeing and career progression of women at all levels of the
Bank; Reach - a network that celebrates Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage. Access -
supporting colleagues with disabilities, long-term health conditions, mental health conditions
and caring responsibilities; Futures - The Bank's newest inclusion network, recognising the
challenges people can face at the start of their career. positions filled by women by the end of
2023. The bank reported that 41% of senior positions across the Bank had been filled by
women in 2022 Co-operative Bank’s Women in Finance Charter and Pay Gap Reporting (Co-
Operative (Bank 2022-sustainability-report).
Co-operative bank has been committed to safeguarding customer’s account. Their Risk
Policy requires the closure of accounts for risk related issues, such as when customers are
involved in or receive profits from organised crime or illegal activities such as the sex trade,
drugs or human trafficking, as well as where there are regulatory requirements. In 2022 Co-
operative bank closed 502 customer accounts (425 in 2021) due to risk related issues,
including suspicion of money laundering and failure to provide documentation to satisfy
Customer Due Diligence requirements. To enhance a cordial customer relationship, the bank
set up Customer Union for Ethical Banking, an independent body representing customers of
The Co-operative Bank. During 2022 they meet with representatives of the Customer Union
regularly. They were consulted on the development of the updated Ethical Policy. These,
however, were not stated to have impact on the bank’s public image (Co-Operative (Bank
2022-sustainability-report).
RBS
UK is aiming to become carbon neutral – or net zero – by 2050. As part of their contribution
to this national aim, RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland), launches Carbon Planner to help
businesses identify how they could reduce carbon emissions in 2022. With the use of the
Carbon Footprint Calculator, RBS helps estimate companies to estimate their carbon
footprint, and show where emissions are at the highest. The launch of Carbon Planner is an
important example of how the bank are putting tools in the hands of their customers to use
their own data to cut costs and carbon emissions (RBS site on Carbon Planning 2022).
As part of their inclusion policy, As at 31 December 2022: the Board RBS plc exceeded the
recommendation of the FTSE Women Leaders Review of 40% female representation on
board by 2025, with 46% of the Board being female; and with a female CEO and CFO, RBS
plc met the FTSE Women Leaders Review recommendation that companies should have at
least one woman in the Chair or Senior Independent Director roles on the Board and/or one
woman in the Chief Executive Officer or Finance Director role by the end of 2025 (The
Royal Bank of Scotland plc 2022 Annual Report and Accounts).
RBS also takes into cognisance customers’s account protection, especially in the areas of risk
compliance. Compliance and conduct risks exist across all stages of RBS plc’s relationships
with its customers and arise from a variety of activities including product design, marketing
and sales, complaint handling, staff training, and handling of confidential inside information.
From a conduct risk perspective, the focus on consumer protection increased significantly
during 2022, given cost of-living challenges and their impact on customers in vulnerable
situations ( Royal Bank of Scotland plc 2022 Annual Report and Accounts).