UniCredit has been named by Capital Finance International magazine (CFI.co) as the Best Social Impact Bank in Europe in 2021. For the second year in a row, the magazine has selected UniCredit as the leading institution for making a strong contribution towards positive social impact to support the real economy across Europe.
The judges highlighted UniCredit’s commitment to a robust value system and significant efforts in integrating sustainability across its capital strategies. Furthermore, the bank’s offer of concrete solutions for sustainable development, including financial education for the youth and capacity-building programmes for female entrepreneurs were commended as well as UniCredit’s clear progress on several ambitious ESG targets.
Commenting on the award, Roberta Marracino, Head of Group ESG Strategy & Impact Banking, said: “We are extremely proud to once again be acknowledged by CFI as the Best Social Impact Bank in Europe. We continue to work hard towards our ESG goals with a strong commitment to support our clients and communities in the current transition phase, ensuring a just pathway for all towards an increasingly inclusive and sustainable economy and society.”
Since first launch in Italy at the end of 2017, UniCredit’s Social Impact Banking (SIB) programme has provided over 5270 loans, including impact finance and microcredit, across 11 UniCredit markets to support social entrepreneurs and initiatives with a measurable positive social impact amounting to a total of more than 295 million euros disbursed (figures as at end of June 2021).
The success of the SIB programme has also been reflected at the local level. As a great example of this, UniCredit bank in Hungary was recently recognised with the EFFEKT 2030 Community Investment Award in the Opportunity Business category for Best Social Impact Banking as testament to its local sustainability efforts in line with UniCredit Group’s ESG commitments and targets.