Environmental bank

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  UmweltBank AG
logo
Country GermanyGermany Germany
Seat Nuremberg
legal form Corporation
ISIN DE0005570808
Bank code 760 350 00
BIC UMWE DE7N XXX
founding July 22, 1994/29. January 1997 (full banking license)
Website www.umweltbank.de
Business data 2019
Total assets 4.1 billion euros
Employee 201
management
Board Goran Bašić, Jürgen Koppmann
Supervisory board Michael Kemmer (Chairman)
Environmental bank flags with logo

The Umweltbank AG ( own spelling UmweltBank ) is a German direct bank that finances only ecological loan projects with its customer deposits. She is pursuing the idea of sustainable banking .

Corporate philosophy

The environmental bank has anchored in its articles of association the aim of contributing to the protection of the environment in every respect through its business activities. In the preamble it says: “The UmweltBank promotes the sustainable development of society with the aim of maintaining and creating a world worth living in for future generations. In its business activities, the bank orients itself towards the sustainability goals of the United Nations . In particular, it makes contributions to the realization of sustainable cities and communities, affordable and clean energy and climate protection. In doing so, she pays attention to sustainable production and consumption as well as gender equality. Honesty and transparency as well as people orientation are the guiding values. A stable economic foundation is the prerequisite for successful work. "

Business model

With its customer deposits, the bank exclusively finances ecological loan projects in the fields of solar, ecological and social construction financing, wind and hydropower projects, biomass projects and ecological agriculture.

The Umweltbank finances projects and invests in companies that enable an ecological improvement of the current living situation - in accordance with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. It has defined this in its investment and financing principles.

For the positive criteria , their focus is on the following SDGs, as the Environmental Bank can achieve the most in these areas and thus contribute to improving the overall situation:

  • SDG 11: sustainable cities and communities
  • SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
  • SDG 13: Climate protection

In addition, it always pays attention to sustainable production and consumption (SDG 12) and gender equality (SDG 5).

In its financing and investments, the Umweltbank excludes any form of behavior that contributes to the deterioration of the quality of life of people and animals and / or harms the preservation of nature. These include the following behaviors:

Environmentally harmful behavior

  • Electricity generation from coal or oil
  • Use of natural gas
  • Atomic energy
  • Toxins
  • Genetic engineering

Harmful economic practices

  • Arms & military equipment
  • Addictive substances
  • Companies with incidents of corruption

Human and labor rights violations

  • Forced labor
  • Child labor
  • Prohibition of unionization
  • Discrimination

Bodies

Compliance with the ecological criteria when granting loans is monitored by an independent environmental council. As an ecological control body, it advises the Umweltbank on environmental issues and is therefore the direct counterpart to the Supervisory Board.

share

84.4 percent of the bank's shares are in free float, predominantly held by customers and employees. The remaining 15.6 percent is held by the GLS Community Bank (as of April 26, 2018). The subscribed capital is divided into around 30.6 million bearer shares. The Umweltbank share is traded in the m: access market segment of the Munich Stock Exchange.

History and numbers

former logo

The bank was founded in 1994 by Horst P. Popp . At the beginning of 1997 she started the business with the entry of the full banking license in the commercial register . In the middle of 2001 it went public. The environmental bank's total assets have grown continuously since it was founded:

Business figures:
1997
(foundation)		 [...] 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Changes
compared to 2018 [%]
Customers 7,000 86,116 106.295 111,385 114,408 115,306 114,681 114,661 113,694 113.290 116.180 +2.6
Employee 32 142 146 142 138 141 132 139 149 172 201 +16.9
Business volume [million Euro] 52.2 1,939.8 2,273.1 2,566.3 2,737.4 2,855.9 2,985.7 3,416 3,766 4.119 4,518 +9.7
Balance sheet total [million Euro] 39.5 1,762.9 1,994.0 2,332.7 2,512.8 2,595.4 2,757.7 3,206 3,485 3,699 4,095 +10.7
Investment volume [million Euro] 15.5 1,179.7 1,338.1 1,554.9 1,720.4 1,808.0 1,938.2 2,056 2.157 2,330 2,529 +8.5
Credit volume [million Euro] 25.5 1,449.7 1,732.6 1,916.8 2,125.1 2,245.8 2,496.2 2,596 2,669 2,895 3,156 +9.0
Annual surplus [million Euro] 0 10.004 11.008 12,043 13,447 14,542 15,586 16,154 16.662 16,936 17,172 +1.4

The bank publishes a loan portfolio annually , which shows what types of projects have been funded. The loan portfolio in the 2019 financial year was made up as follows: solar energy 34.0 percent, residential 28.1 percent, wind and hydropower projects 22.5 percent, social and commercial real estate 7.3 percent, biomass and heating concepts 2.5 percent and sustainable economy 5.6 percent.

Umweltbank: Structure of the lending business (financial year: 2019) by sector and volume. Borrowing of € 2,776 million, volume in% as of December 31, 2019.

The total volume of the funded projects, which is made up of loan utilization and outstanding loan commitments, amounted to a good 3.1 billion euros in the 2019 financial year. The ratio of loan volume to customer deposits was around 110 percent in 2019. Overall, a carbon dioxide saving of 621,795 t CO 2 was achieved in 2019 . More than 23,000 loan projects have been funded since the bank was founded.

The bank is a member of the statutory deposit protection scheme , but does not belong to any deposit protection fund ; This means that deposits of up to 100,000 euros are protected in full.

Publicity

Awards

Since it was founded, the company has received various awards, including the Golden Bull for Sustainability 2009, the BAUM Environment Prize 2010, the German CSR Prize 2013 and was honored in the Office & Environment 2017 competition. In addition, in 2018 the Umweltbank received the Neumarkter Lammsbräu sustainability award in the "Company" category for successfully combining economic and ecological objectives. In 2019 she was awarded the Bavarian State Foundation's environmental prize for her pioneering role in the field of sustainable finance.

In addition, the environmental bank was rated very well in various tests and surveys. Between 2017 and 2019, the environmental bank received an award in Chip's new customer hotline test. Different direct banks were compared with regard to their accessibility, waiting time, service and transparency. The environmental bank took second place. In the customer survey conducted by the German Institute for Service Quality on behalf of n-tv, the environmental bank was awarded the quality rating “very good” in 2017 and 2018. Customer satisfaction was assessed in the areas of service, conditions, transparency, security, image or reputation of the bank and the range of products. In addition, customer annoyances and willingness to recommend flowed into the overall result.

engagement

The company supports various environmental associations and nature conservation organizations through donations and membership fees. She is a member of various interest groups and associations that are committed to the preservation of the environment and an ecological way of life and promote the expansion of renewable energies. The environmental bank is the official holder of the Fair Company seal of approval . In 2017, it introduced an environmental management system that has been validated according to the guidelines of the Eco Management and Audit Scheme . In addition, the Umweltbank reports annually on its business activities in a sustainability and business report. For this purpose, it uses the international standard of the Global Reporting Initiative . By signing the Diversity Charter, she advocates the recognition and appreciation of all people in her corporate culture.

The Umweltbank is the first bank in Germany to use a verified sustainability rating to grant building loans. The German Sustainable Building Council has the following to say about this: “With its UmweltRating rating system, which was launched at the beginning of 2019, Umweltbank AG is the first bank to have successfully passed the DGNB approval process. To calculate the individual credit rating of a project, the Umweltbank largely uses DGNB criteria as a basis. In addition, the DGNB certificates in platinum, gold and silver are each accepted as adequate evidence. "

criticism

Finanztest magazine reported that some investors were disappointed with the house. The bank offered them and sold risky investments in wind farms with false advertising statements. Long-term investments in wind farms are also said to have been recommended as a secure retirement provision. The losses that investors had to record in numerous closed funds sold by the Umweltbank led to allegations that the Umweltbank had deliberately deceived investors about the risks of the wind funds. At the beginning of 2014, Der Spiegel reported that many wind power projects, into which savers were lured with the promise of high returns, are going badly. As an example, a wind farm participation is reported, which the Umweltbank had touted as the "ideal supplementary pension", but which did not receive the prospect of transfers after a short time. Following a lawsuit by the German Consumer Association (vzbv) against the Umweltbank, the Umweltbank was defeated before the Higher Regional Court in Nuremberg (Az .: 3 U 2124/13). The judgment is final. According to the court, the bank was not allowed to point out the advantages (high profit participation rights) without also describing the risks accordingly.

At the beginning of 2015, the Umweltbank was criticized for not providing information on its homepage that the Board of Management was not granted discharge for 2013 .

According to a report in the daily newspaper from Berlin, the environmental bank is said to have refused paid vacation and continued payment of wages to employed student workers in the event of illness. In doing so, the environmental bank is violating current labor law. According to the board of directors, the bank failed to do this due to an inadequate administrative burden arising from a flexible working model. A student is said to have been dismissed without notice and for no reason on the basis of a vacation application. However, according to the information provided by the board member Horst Popp, this model is no longer offered for reasons of legal security. A legal dispute between the bank and the student trainee concerned is still pending.

After persistent criticism, the founder of the environmental bank Horst P. Popp, long-time CEO, resigned from the board on April 30, 2015. According to a report by the Handelsblatt , he is accused, among other things, of having violated the German Stock Corporation Act when exonerating the management board for the 2013 financial year and of having insufficiently pointed out the risks involved in selling wind farm funds and participation certificates . At the Annual General Meeting on June 15, 2015, the environmental bank was heavily criticized by investor representatives for a lack of transparency and decisions based on the " landlord-style ". Due to a computer bug, the meeting had to be closed without result.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Master data of the credit institute at the Deutsche Bundesbank
  2. ↑ UmweltBank Aktiengesellschaft: UmweltBank defies the crisis. Retrieved June 5, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b Imprint. UmweltBank AG, accessed on July 1, 2020 .
  4. ↑ ECOreporter - Umweltbank AG Accessed June 5, 2020.
  5. ↑ Values ​​& Articles of Association of the Umweltbank. Accessed June 5, 2020.
  6. ↑ Umweltbank: Sustainable growth despite Corona , May 29, 2020 , accessed on June 5, 2020.
  7. ↑ Investment and financing principles of the Umweltbank. Accessed June 5, 2020.
  8. ↑ ECOreporter - Umweltbank AG Accessed June 5, 2020.
  9. ↑ GLS Bank participates in the environmental bank . Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  10. ^ Public announcement RegisSTAR. Retrieved August 20, 2019 .
  11. ↑ ECOreporter - Umweltbank AG Accessed June 5, 2020.
  12. ↑ See Bank & Environment No. 24 Apr./May/Jun. 2001, pp. 1 ff. Accessed December 6, 2017 .
  13. ↑ Umweltbank Aktiengesellschaft: Umweltbank defies the crisis Press release May 4, 2020. Accessed June 5, 2020.
  14. ↑ Message from the President at the AGM 07/19/2016 .
  15. ↑ a b c Sustainability and Annual Report 2019 , accessed on July 1, 2020.
  16. ↑ Christian Garrels: Award of the GOLDEN BULLS: Dr. Ben Lipps is “Entrepreneur of the Year 2009”. In: Südkurier . January 21, 2009, accessed April 29, 2015 .
  17. ^ BAUM eV - Horst P. Popp - UmweltBank AG, Category: Small and medium-sized companies. baumev.de, accessed on January 11, 2018 .
  18. ↑ German CSR Prize 2013. (No longer available online.) In: deutsches csrforum. Archived from the original on July 26, 2015 ; Retrieved April 29, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.csrforum.eu
  19. ↑ Competition "Office & Environment" 2017. Accessed on June 5, 2020 .
  20. ↑ Big gala: Lammsbräu awards sustainability prizes . Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  21. ↑ Nürnberger Umweltbank receives environmental award . Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  22. ↑ UmweltBank takes second place in the chip hotline test . Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  23. ↑ The best hotlines in Germany: Here you can get help - goodbye service problems! . Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  24. ↑ These hotlines are really competent: 143 providers tested. In: www.chip.de. October 30, 2019, accessed November 26, 2019 .
  25. ↑ UmweltBank receives very good quality rating . Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  26. ↑ Bank of the Year customer survey . Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  27. ↑ Memberships in associations and initiatives , accessed on June 5, 2020.
  28. ^ Fair Company . Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  29. ↑ UmweltBank validated according to EMAS . Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  30. ↑ UmweltBank signs Diversity Charter . Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  31. ↑ The UmweltBank is the first bank in Germany with a sustainability rating recognized by the DGNB . Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  32. ↑ DGNB introduces recognition of sustainability ratings for lending . Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  33. ↑ Green investment - Umweltbank corrects itself . In: Stiftung Warentest (Ed.): Financial test . No. 3 , 2012 ( test.de ).
  34. ↑ Gunther Latsch, Anne Seith, Gerald Traufetter: ENERGY: The great calm. January 27, 2014, accessed April 29, 2015 .
  35. ↑ Higher Regional Court Nuremberg : vzbv against environmental bank. (No longer available online.) April 15, 2014, archived from the original on February 21, 2015 ; Retrieved April 29, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / zap.vzbv.de
  36. ^ Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (vzbv) press release of April 15, 2014 . Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  37. ↑ dpa / tmn: Bank must provide information about the risks of investing. May 9, 2014, archived from the original on May 18, 2014 ; Retrieved April 29, 2015 .
  38. ↑ Lack of transparency: NGOs criticize UmweltBank. February 20, 2015, accessed May 26, 2017 .
  39. ^ Ruben Rehage: Environmental bank without vacation pay: working students defend themselves. taz.de, accessed on April 29, 2015 .
  40. ↑ Board of the Umweltbank throws down. genios.de (Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt), May 4, 2015, accessed on May 6, 2015 .
  41. ↑ "Gutsherrenart" pissed off UmweltBank owners. June 25, 2015, accessed June 27, 2015 .



Coordinates: 49 ° 27 '13.9 "  N , 11 ° 5' 14.8"  E