InFocus: Evangelische Bank & FNG
Who?
Evangelische Bank eG is a well-established mutual financial institution. It is firmly rooted in the church and charity financial cycle and committed to Christian values. As a modern financial services provider, it offers specialised expertise and comprehensive financing solutions to ecclesiastical and charity organisations and social enterprises. With a balance sheet total of 7.1 billion euros, Evangelische Bank eG is Germany’s biggest ecclesiastical bank and also one of the country’s ten largest cooperatives.
As Germany’s leading ecclesiastical bank with a focus on sustainability, Evangelische Bank eG is a specialised financing partner for churches, major German church charities such as Diakonie and Caritas, secular NGOs and social enterprises as well as private customers who subscribe to a Christian set of values. Nationwide, more than 480 employees provide services to around 19,000 institutional customers and approx. 72,000 private customers at 14 locations.
SIF
FNG is the SIF in the German speaking countries. Founded in 2001, today it includes over 180 members in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. FNG has set itself the goal of informing the public, investors and decision-makers on all politics, business and science regarding SRI.
FNG has recently been working on the following projects:
- FNG-Label: Since 2015, FNG has labelled sustainable investment funds that have reached the minimum criteria.
- Education: This EU-supported training course is addressed to financial advisors who want to improve their skills in the field of SRI.
- Status quo of the German sustainable financial sector: Financed by the Ministries of Environment and Finance, FNG researched the market of sustainable financial economy.
- GreenUpInvest: The objective of the Green Start-Up Investment Alliance, funded by the German National Climate Protection Initiative, is to strengthen and advance start-up financing in Germany.
Furthermore, FNG takes positions on the regulation of ESG topics: Proposals for the Hub for Sustainable Finance, FNG-Positions regarding the survey of the High Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance, Statement to the results of the latest G20 summit in Hamburg, Open letter to Dr. Schäuble, Minister of Finance and Dr. Weidemann, Governor of the German Central Bank regarding the German G20 presidency etc.
FNG also publishes the annual “FNG-SRI-Marktbericht”, a study of the SRI market in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.