Lending procedures
The Rabobank is aware of the direct and indirect consequences of its activities. Our responsibilities therefore include basing our business decisions in part on whether we are doing business with customers that operate in a socially responsible way.
Specifically:
- Satisfactory treatment of employees
- Satisfactory consideration of the interests of consumers and society
- Satisfactory consideration of the environment
- Satisfactory corporate governance
Lending to large businesses
CSR aspects are included in credit applications for business customers. The emphasis in the assessment is on identifying CSR issues. A CSR issue is a social or environmental issue that applies in the sector in which a customer operates or at the location where the business is established. We classify these into ten main categories:
Ten main issues for CSR assessment
- Corruption
- Poor working conditions
- Exploitation of employees or benefiting from such exploitation (direct or indirect)
- Inadmissible child labour
- Discrimination
- Environmental pollution
- Depletion of scarce natural resources
- Cruelty against animals
- Violation of rights of indigenous peoples
- Products and services involving health or safety risks for consumers
Lending to small and medium-sized enterprises and agricultural businesses
The local member banks have a questionnaire with seven screening criteria they can use to assess the CSR performance of their customers in the SME and agricultural sectors more reliably. This list is used for all financing agreements in excess of EUR 1 million.
Engagement
Rabobank opts for an approach based on positive engagement. This involves constructive dialogue with customers to explore whether and how any applicable CSR issues (social or ecological) can be improved or offer business opportunities. It may be necessary, in incidental cases, to relinquish customers if they are not prepared to work on improvements.