Françoise Thoma, Managing Director of Spuerkeess;
Credit: BCEE
The Banque et Caisse d'Épargne de l'État (BCEE or Spuerkeess) has become Luxembourg's first bank participant in the United Nations "Principles for Responsible Banking" (UNEP FI).
According to Spuerkeess, this membership is in keeping with the responsible orientation of its banking and financial activities and demonstrates its desire to intensify its efforts by contributing to the implementation of the Principles for Responsible Banking adopted in the framework of the UNEP FI.
UNEP FI is a global partnership between the United Nations (UN) and the banking sector. The Principles for Responsible Banking encourage banking players to adopt environmental, social and governance criteria and promote sustainable finance. Their goal is to transform the banking industry to enable it to play a leading role in the achievement of the UN sustainable development goals (SDG) and the Paris Climate Agreement goals.
Françoise Thoma, Managing Director of Spuerkeess, explained: "Spuerkeess being the oldest financial institution in Luxembourg, fully state-owned, and with a clear mission statement regarding the economic and social role our Bank intends to play in Luxembourg, adhering to the UNEP FI principles on responsible banking lies in the natural continuity of what we have been doing since the creation of the Bank in 1856". She added: "The resolute support of the Luxembourg Government in establishing our country as an ESG landmark makes it all the more natural for us to officialise formally, by adhering to the UNEP FI principles, what has been integrated in our DNA for a long time and what we are now making a flagship of our strategic choices”.
Luxembourg's Minister of Finance, Pierre Gramegna, stated: "I welcome Spuerkeess’ adherence to the Principles for Responsible Banking. As the first Luxembourg bank to commit to these principles, Spuerkeess sends a strong and important signal, as this will encourage other stakeholders to further align their business with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement and thus help strengthen Luxembourg's position as one of the top 5 financial centres worldwide in the field of sustainable finance".
