Commerzbank among the founding signatories of the UN Principles for Responsible Banking

Commerzbank is one of the founding signatories of the new Principles for Responsible Banking. These have been developed by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) in collaboration with several international financial institutions, and were officially launched at the start of the UN General Assembly in New York yesterday. Under these principles, 130 banks worldwide have undertaken a voluntary commitment to make the financial system as a whole more sustainable and develop the global economy in alignment with the UN sustainable development goals.

“In signing the principles, we are reiterating our commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement from 2015,” said Martin Zielke, Chief Executive Officer of Commerzbank. “As a bank, it is our responsibility to support the transformation of the economy towards sustainability. And this is exactly what the Principles for Responsible Banking demand.”

Sustainability has been an integral part of Commerzbank’s corporate management for many years. For example, the Bank has committed to the Green and Sustainable Finance Cluster Germany, which was established in Frankfurt in 2018 and advances the sustainability of the financial industry in Germany.

“We are all responsible for our actions regarding sustainability. This is why we have been climate-neutral since 2015 and have significantly lowered our CO2 emissions,” Zielke added. “But we can achieve the greatest progress in climate protection and sustainability together with our clients and investors.”

In 2018, Commerzbank issued its first green bond with a volume of €500 million. In addition, the Bank continues to maintain its leading position in the field of renewable energies with a current credit amount of €4.9 billion in project financing and €0.9 billion in corporate financing. The sustainable focus also includes binding rules for business transactions involving coal – with the objective of gradually reducing financing in the field of coal-fired power generation.

About Commerzbank

Commerzbank is a leading international commercial bank with branches and offices in almost 50 countries. In the two business segments Private and Small-Business Customers and Corporate Clients, the Bank offers a comprehensive portfolio of financial services which is precisely aligned to its clients’ needs. Commerzbank finances approximately 30% of Germany’s foreign trade and is the leading finance provider for corporate clients in Germany. Due to its in-depth sector know-how in the German economy, the Bank is a leading provider of capital market products. Its subsidiaries Comdirect in Germany and mBank in Poland are two of the world’s most innovative online banks. With approximately 1,000 branches, Commerzbank has one of the densest branch networks among German private banks. In total, Commerzbank serves more than 18 million private and small business customers, as well as more than 70,000 corporate clients, multinationals, financial service providers, and institutional clients worldwide. In 2018, it generated gross revenues of €8.6 billion with approximately 49,000 employees.

Disclaimer

This release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. In this release, these statements concern inter alia the expected future business of Commerzbank, efficiency gains and expected synergies, expected growth prospects and other opportunities for an increase in value of Commerzbank as well as expected future financial results, restructuring costs and other financial developments and information. These forward-looking statements are based on the management's current plans, expectations, estimates and projections. They are subject to a number of assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results and developments to differ materially from any future results and developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include the conditions in the financial markets in Germany, in Europe, in the USA and other regions from which Commerzbank derives a substantial portion of its revenues and in which Commerzbank holds a substantial portion of its assets, the development of asset prices and market volatility, especially due to the ongoing European debt crisis, potential defaults of borrowers or trading counterparties, the implementation of its strategic initiatives to improve its business model, the reliability of its risk management policies, procedures and methods, risks arising as a result of regulatory change and other risks. Forward-looking statements therefore speak only as of the date they are made. Commerzbank has no obligation to update or release any revisions to the forward-looking statements contained in this release to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.