As a leading credit institution in its home markets, Swedbank has significant influence over both private and corporate customers, and the Group works to support customers in the sustainable transition. The Group contributes to this objective by developing various products and services with a sustainable focus and designing financial incentives to encourage change. Swedbank is also selective about engagements with corporate customers and the banks actions are governed by means such as the Group’s positions on climate change and nature, and arms and defense.

To contribute to the broader sustainability transition,
Swedbank is engaged in various ways in the social debate, to influence the direction of the discussions for the benefit of the industry, customers and society at large.
Swedbank is a digital bank with physical meeting points. The Group strives to reduce negative impacts in digital environments by optimising energy consumption and emissions from data centres and IT infrastructure. Swedbank also has many suppliers, which brings great responsibility and offers a significant opportunity to exert an influence through strict sustainability requirements and expectations relating to procurement.

Swedbank’s operations cause both direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, and targets have been adopted to significantly reduce these to be aligned with the targets of the Paris Agreement. This is a far-reaching task, and it is being undertaken in different areas and in several ways. The vast majority of Swedbank’s climate impact comes indirectly from the Group’s customers. Swedbank’s lending is financed through deposits from corporates and private individuals, and through funding from the capital market, and the Group offers
a range of different loan products such as personal loans, mortgages, corporateloans and credit facilities.

These services are designed for both private customers
and corporates. Swedbank’s corporate lending consists largely of real estate, agriculture and forestry, manufacturing industry and retail and wholesale trade. Lending can have both a positive and negative impact on society and the environment. By financing renewable energy, electrification of the transport sector and/or sustainable agriculture, Swedbank can contribute to reduced emissions.

Furthermore, climate-related advice and sustainable financing products can generate new income. Financing carbon-intensive operations, on the other hand, increases indirect emissions and has a negative impact.

Swedbank is active in the field of property financing and has significant exposure to real estate sector. Around 80 per cent of Swedbank’s lending is related to real estate, a sector that consumes significant amounts of energy, which generate greenhouse gas emissions. Swedbank offers financial services relating to property such as mortgages, property loans and advice to both private individuals and companies. Swedbank supports property development and investments by financing housing, commercial properties and infrastructure projects.

Swedbank also contributes expertise in the field of sustainability to promote the transition in real estate sector. Energy efficiency plays a crucial role in addressing the increased demand for electricity in society because of increased electrification. This is an area where Swedbank can have a positive impact, and the Group strives to meet the extensive need for investment in society and to achieve its own climate targets.

Swedbank is an attractive workplace where employees thrive and develop. As an employer, Swedbank has a responsibility to create such an environment by offering supportive initiatives and promoting an inclusive corporate culture. Engaged and motivated employees are important for the bank’s long-term growth.

Business conduct is at the heart of Swedbank’s operations. Swedbank’s Code of Conduct constitutes the internal regulation that forms the basis of how the bank operates in its business and relationships. It emphasises that decisions should not only comply with laws and regulations, but also with what is considered ethically right and correct.

The Code of Conduct applies to all employees in Swedbank
and its subsidiaries, and is part of both the introduction programme for new employees and regular annual ethic trainings, which ensure that ethical principles pervade the entire organisation.

Swedbank offers payment solutions and works actively to prevent fraud and prevent the Group from being used for illegal transactions or other criminal activities. Financial crime and terrorist financing are global problems that threaten the
financial stability and security of society. Through careful customer due diligence and continuous monitoring, Swedbank works to maintain a high level of integrityand security in its financial services.

Swedbank works actively to identify, combat and deal with all forms of financial crime. Swedbank and the Group Executive Committee take their work against financial crime extremely seriously. The Group has regulatory, systemic and moral obligations towards its customers, shareholders and society at large to maintain effective and robust measures to prevent and protect its systems, products and services from being misused for criminal purposes.

With 7.4 million private customers and 553 000 corporate customers, Swedbank is one of the leading banks in its four home markets: Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It operates in four Business Areas: Swedish Banking, Premium and Private Banking, Corporates and Institutions, and Baltic Banking. Swedbank’s main customer segments are private customers, corporate customers, tenant owner associations, the public sector and financial institutions.

Swedbank’s value chain consists of several critical activities, both upstream and downstream, with supporting Group Functions in its own operations. Upstream activities include capital acquisition, through deposits from customers, as well
as funding from the capital market and liquidity management. Procurement is also, a crucial upstream activity for Swedbank’s long-term stability, efficiency and competitiveness, as it includes important processes that occur before the service is delivered to the customer.

Downstream activities include customer and relationship management, as well as various distribution services and channels, including physical branches and digital channels. These also include financial products and services such as
deposits, lending, insurance and payment services, as well as investment advice and asset management.

Supporting activities include, for example, compliance, KYC, employee engagement, risk assessment and IT infrastructure. They contribute to a robust operational base that enables efficient business processes throughout the value chain.

Swedbank’s four Business Areas engage in continuous customer dialogue and day-to-day work that includes various sustainability matters. This provides important insights that help shape the overarching business strategy. Partnerships constitute an important and growing element of Swedbank’s sustainability work. The purpose of the partnerships is to supplement the Group’s financial know-how with relevant competence and expertise. One example is collaborationwith parties that specialise in improving energy performance in properties.

The partnerships enable the development of products and services for the Group that can result in a more sustainable customer offering. The sustainability performance of Swedbank’s investments and lending portfolio is monitored regularly to ensure that the Group’s financial decisions are in line with the Group’s sustainability principles. Swedbank also monitors its own impact, so that it can measure and analyse both climate impact and employee engagement. It is crucial for Swedbank to strive to deliver long-term value to customers, shareholders and society at large.