Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Banorte Signs Up to Principles for Responsible Banking at UN Headquarters

Banorte the only Mexican bank in the core group that led the development of the Principles for Responsible Banking
Sep 22, 2019 3:00 PM ET

Banorte Signs Up to Principles for Responsible Banking at UN Headquarters

NEW YORK, Sept. 22, 2019 /3BL Media/ -- Today Banorte became a Founding Signatory of the Principles for Responsible Banking of the United Nations (UN), undertaking to align its business strategically with the Sustainable Development Goals and with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

In the ceremony held at UN headquarters in New York, as part of a group of 130 banks from all over the world, with more than 47 trillion dollars in assets, Banorte assumed the commitment to contribute to sustainable development.

These Principles are designed for banks to align all their decisions with social, environmental, and ethical goals, and to incorporate these factors into their strategies and operations.

Banorte, a subsidiary of the second-largest financial group in Mexico, is the only Mexican bank that, for more than 18 months, helped lead the development of the Principles, as part of a core group of 30 founding banks.

At the official inauguration of the Principles, which marked the beginning of the most extensive partnership to date between the banking industry and the UN, Carlos Hank González, President of the Board of Directors of Grupo Financiero Banorte, and Marcos Ramírez Miguel, its Managing Director, both took part.

Carlos Hank González signed the Principles himself in the presence of UN Secretary General António Guterres.

On the other hand, Carlos Hank González was selected to represent the Latin American banks in the panel "Driving change and realizing impact on the world", in which only one representative of each continental region participated. "The banks have to assume a greater social and environmental commitment. At Banorte we're very proud to be the only Mexican bank to take part in the development of the Principles for Responsible Banking, laying the foundations for a new kind of banking: more in line with the needs of our clients, employees and the communities we work with," said Carlos Hank González.

At the ceremony, UN Secretary General António Guterres declared: “The UN Principles for Responsible Banking are a guide for the global banking industry to respond to, drive and benefit from a sustainable development economy. The Principles create the accountability that can realize responsibility, and the ambition that can drive action.”

"These Principles require us to take into account the social, environmental and ethical impact of all our decisions as a bank. For example, each time we at Grupo Financiero Banorte provide financing, we work to ensure it will not have a negative impact on the environment or society," said Marcos Ramírez Miguel, the bank's Managing Director.

The Principles for Responsible Banking are backed up by a solid framework for implementation, through which Banorte will set goals for maximizing positive impacts and mitigating any negative effects.

By applying these Principles, Banorte will be able to identify and make the most of new business opportunities created by the new sustainable development economy, while also enabling the bank to effectively manage operational risks. 

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