BCV is the leading bank in Vaud Canton, our home region. Half of the people and businesses in the Canton bank with us. So do many Vaud public-sector entities such as municipalities. Seven of ten Vaud pension funds turn to us to manage their assets. Our universal-bank range of products and services means that we’re there for our customers at all the key moments in their lives. For instance, in 2019, we helped 92 businesses get off the ground, for a total of 200 new jobs, and we also financed 63 business successions for more mature local firms.
Our investment approach is responsible and sustainable. We are guided by key principles such as not investing our clients’ funds in companies linked to major controversies or in the shares of firms that generate at least 30% of their income from thermal coal. We also weight our equity portfolios so as to prioritize companies that implement environmental, social, and governance (ESG) best practices. In 2019, we integrated this approach into all of the investment solutions we offer our institutional clients. Our next step is to offer ESG-based solutions to personal banking customers starting in 2020.
BCV has been an active member of the Vaud community for 175 years. We allocate around 2% of the Bank’s net profit to sponsorships and donations every year, supporting over 650 sports, cultural, community, and environmental organizations and events across the Canton.
We encourage our employees to further develop their skills through an array of continuing education opportunities. Our training center – the only one of its kind in Vaud Canton – delivered the equivalent of 7,900 employee training days in 2019, a quarter of which were distance learning. We also provided job training for 98 trainees, including apprentices and high school graduates.
We are aware that as our employees’ lives change, they may need to adjust how they work. That’s why we make it possible for staff, including those in management and other senior positions, to work part time if they need to at some point in their career. We also help people transition back to the working world after taking a break in their career, most notably via our “Rejoignez-nous” program and a daycare center that can take in up to 35 children.
We offset the greenhouse gas emissions from our operations by financing carbon reduction and sequestration projects with myclimate, a Swiss non-profit organization. In 2019, BCV earned a B grade – the third highest – on the CDP Global survey, which assesses companies’ carbon footprints.
In 2019, we remained the most widely accessible bank in Vaud thanks to our dense retail network. At the same time, we continued to enhance customers’ access to our products and services across a number of digital channels. BCV customers can now choose to bank online, visit one of our branches, and even speak with an advisor remotely.
Our strategy is designed to create value sustainably over the long term, and we have paid out CHF 3bn in taxes and dividends to the Canton and municipalities of Vaud since 2008. In 2019, our solid financial position was recognized once again by the two leading credit rating agencies, Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s, which reaffirmed our ratings of AA and Aa2, respectively. On the basis of those ratings, we are considered to be one of the world’s safest banks.
Our Sustainability Report offers a broad, transparent view of what we are doing to fulfill our commitment to promoting economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable development and was prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards – the worldwide reference for reporting on sustainable development issues.
File size : 4 MB - Last update: 20.05.2020
Infographics showing how BCV fostered sustainability, served the Canton of Vaud, and was a responsible corporate citizen in 2019
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