Swedbank

As a leading bank in Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Swedbank has a unique opportunity to have a positive impact by actively supporting sustainable financing in all four home markets. In addition to Swedbank's commitment to financing the green transition, in 2022, Swedbank became the first major Nordic bank to add categories for social assets into a sustainable funding framework. 

"Our sustainable financing is increasing, and we want to see a continued growth going forward. Adding social categories to the framework is an important step for us given the bank's strategy and history of strong social engagement," says Fredrik Nilzén, Head of Group Sustainability, Swedbank.  

The Sustainable Bond Impact Report for 2022 provides the impact metrics of the bank's green assets and introduces an allocation report for the newly inducted social assets in line with the launch of the Sustainable Funding Framework in 2022. To date, Swedbank has only issued green bonds, but has the ambition to explore opportunities in social and sustainability bonds as well. As of year-end 2022, Swedbank had SEK 28 billion in green senior unsecured bonds outstanding out of a green asset register of SEK 53 billion.

In the 2022 framework, the criteria for green assets have been updated in line with market practices and in keeping with new regulations such as the EU Taxonomy. The environmental impact of the Sustainable Asset Register was estimated to contribute to approximately 385 000 tonnes in avoided greenhouse gas emissions, expected renewable energy production of more than 1 100 GWh, and an estimated energy savings of 78 000 MWh.

The social assets of SEK 6.3 billion are primarily composed of SME financing that aims to promote employment generation in socioeconomically weak areas. It also includes projects that aim to promote socioeconomic advancement and empowerment through, for example, the financing of female-owned SMEs in the Baltic countries and projects aimed at combatting segregation in Sweden. 

To further incentivise the bank's efforts to grow the volume of sustainable lending, Swedbank is committed to directly transferring back to the business areas any potential discount in the funding cost when issuing a green, social and/or sustainability bond. Swedbank is committed to remaining an active issuer in the sustainable bond market. 

Read more in Swedbank Sustainable Bond Impact Report 2022 (PDF) or at swedbank.com.

Contact:
Fredrik Nilzén, Head of Group Sustainability, phone +46 76 773 19 26
Hannes Mård, Media Relations Manager, phone +46 73-057 41 95