SIX launches solution to enable banks to assess small business sustainability in loan books

Financial markets infrastructure provider SIX and sustainability reporting software provider Greenomy today announced the launch of a new solution designed to enable SIX’s banking clients to effectively assess the sustainability of their small and medium enterprise (SME) lending clients. Development performance and transformation trajectories.

The launch of the new solution comes at a time when banks are increasingly committing to monitoring and improving the sustainability performance of their financing activities, and as they face growing regulatory pressure to report on ESG across their business value chains. According to SIX, the solution aims to free up banks’ operating costs and resources by providing a “one-stop” solution for sustainability assessments for SMEs, from inviting companies to complete sustainability assessments to monitoring EU-compliant Sustainability indicators CSRD supervision.

Marion Leslie, Head of Financial Information and Member of the Executive Board of SIX, said:

“The importance of a clearer understanding of the climate credentials of SMEs cannot be overstated. After all, SMEs represent 90% of businesses globally, not to mention 99% of the EU economy. They are driving innovation and Growth also plays an integral role. We must do everything we can to ensure that lending institutions fully understand the sustainable development trajectories of businesses seeking financing, not only to ensure that capital flows to the most socially and environmentally responsible businesses, but also to help banks fulfill their obligations own climate finance commitments. ”

According to SIX, the new SME Sustainability Assessment solution enables banks to define the sustainability trajectories of their debtors, thereby facilitating the calculation of the EU Banking Book Taxonomy Adjustment Rate (EU BTAR), a new EU Regulatory indicators showing the extent of bank lending This book is aimed at SMEs that comply with the EU Sustainable Development Directive.

The solution can also help financial institutions support SME customers to better meet emerging disclosure and reporting standards by engaging in sustainability conversations with them, the company said.

The new solution follows the launch of an alliance between SIX and Greenomy in December 2023 to help financial institutions and companies comply with ESG frameworks, measure and improve sustainability performance and access green finance opportunities.

Constance d’Aspremont, chief business development officer at Greenomy, said:

“The new SIX SME Sustainability Assessment solution, powered by Greenomy’s technology and sustainability expertise, is designed to simplify the reporting process for SMEs and enable them to take their next sustainability steps with confidence. This This initiative once again demonstrates our commitment to helping businesses, SMEs and financial institutions achieve sustainable development transformation.”