Credit Suisse Group AG | Amendment to the articles of association regarding Credit Suisse's climate change strategy and disclosures

Status
18.52% votes in favour
AGM date
Proposal number
9
Resolution details
Company ticker
CSGN
Lead filer
Ethos Foundation
Co-filers
Amundi, LGPS Central, Pensionskasse des Bundes PUBLICA, Pension Fund City of Zurich (PKZH)
Resolution ask
Adopt or amend a policy
ESG theme
  • Environment
ESG sub-theme
  • Fossil fuel financing
Type of vote
Shareholder proposal
Filer type
Shareholder
Company sector
Financials
Company HQ country
Switzerland
Resolved clause
Add an article 8.d to the articles of association as follows:
Article 8d Climate change financing
1. The management report submitted to shareholders should contain, in addition to information on the Company’s performance and activities during the past financial year and the other elements required by the provisions of the laws and regulations in force, additional disclosures on the Company’s strategy to “align [its] financing with the Paris Agreement objective of limiting global warming to 1.5°C”.
2. The report should include additional disclosures on the Company’s short-, medium-and long-term steps it plans to take to reduce its exposure (defined as project finance, corporate lending, capital markets underwriting and facilitation, and investments) to coal, oil and gas assets on a timeline consistent with its own alignment objective.
Supporting statement
The Ethos Foundation, ShareAction and 11 institutional investors (i) recognise the Company’s progress on climate change in several important areas. Credit Suisse was one of the first
European banks to commit to “align [its] financing with the Paris Agreement objective of limiting global warming to 1.5°C”, and to commit to setting science-based targets.
However, investors are concerned about the financial, regulatory, and reputational risks that the Company exposes itself to by continuing to finance activities that are seemingly incompatible with its own alignment objective.
According to external studies, Credit Suisse has provided more than USD 82 billion to top fossil fuel companies since the Paris agreement was signed (2016-2020). This makes it Europe’s fourth largest fossil fuel financier, and the 19th biggest globally ii. Furthermore, Credit Suisse is Europe’s largest financier of the world’s top 30 coal mining companies, and the third largest financier of the world’s top 30 coal power companies.
Whilst it has significantly improved its coal policy over the years, important questions remain about its applicability. The core tenets of its policy also do not apply to its asset management arm.
Credit Suisse’s unconventional oil and gas policy is limited in its scope and lags behind leading practice in the European banking sector.
Investors encourage the bank to bring its coal, oil, and gas policies in line with leading practice in the sector, provide additional disclosures on its plans to reduce its exposure to fossil fuel assets on a timeline consistent with the 1.5C goal, and to set up a reporting framework to report on this plan on an annual basis. Investors urge the Company to support this proposal, which presents an opportunity for the bank to improve its ESG credentials and set itself apart as a climate leader.

How other organisations have declared their voting intentions

Organisation name Declared voting intentions Rationale
LocalTapiola Asset Management Ltd For A vote FOR this proposal is warranted as additional disclosures and reporting on climate-related risks, such as disclosure of additional information on the strategy set to align the financing activities with the Paris agreement as well as the reduction of exposure to coal, oil, and gas assets would further support the company's stated ambitions and would benefit shareholders in assessing its management of related risks.
Legal & General Investment Management (Holdings) For A vote in support of this proposal is warranted as LGIM expects company boards to devise a strategy and 1.5C-aligned pathway in line with the company’s commitments and recent global energy scenarios. In this regard, we note some important shortfalls in Credit Suisse’s current commitments and policies, such as the exclusion of capital markets financing from its net zero trajectory analysis, as well as underdeveloped Scope 3 emissions disclosures and weak sector exclusion policies.

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