Arion Bank

With roots tracing back to 1929, Arion Bank and its subsidiaries provide comprehensive financial services to the people of Iceland. Arion Bank’s role is to help those who want to achieve success in Iceland and the Arctic region through smart and reliable financial solutions which enhance financial health and create sustainable value. Arion Bank places great importance on developing long-term relationships with its clients and is a market leader as a provider of cutting-edge and modern banking services.

Arion Bank provides services to individuals, corporates and investors in three business segments: Retail Banking, Corporate & Investment Banking, and Markets. The service offering is further augmented by the subsidiaries Stefnir and Vörður. Stefnir is one of the largest fund management companies in Iceland, and Vörður is the fastest growing insurance company in Iceland, providing non-life and life insurance. The Bank also offers pension services and manages several pensions funds. Arion’s service offering is therefore unique in terms of diversity.

The diverse service offering creates a broad revenue base, and the loan portfolio is well diversified between retail and corporate customers. The high percentage of mortgages and the healthy distribution of loans across different sectors contribute towards risk management.

The Bank is a market leader in terms of digital solutions and innovation, and the majority of the Bank’s services can be obtained using the Arion app. The broad spectrum of digital services makes banking more convenient for customers and also makes the business more cost efficient. The Bank is a leading service provider and advisor to corporate customers and investors and has been a key figure in invigorating the Icelandic stock market.

Arion Bank has adopted a clear policy on sustainable operations and environmental and climate issues. A wide range of green financial services, such as green car loans, deposits, corporate loans and mortgages, is available to its customers. Arion Bank has in addition published a sustainable financing framework which addresses the Bank’s funding and lending activities.

Arion Bank is a financially robust bank which aspires to operate profitably in harmony with society and the environment. The Bank is committed to paying competitive dividends and is listed on Nasdaq Iceland and Nasdaq Stockholm.

Arion Bank’s Commitment to Sustainability [2]:

• Commitment at the end of 2023 to get our climate targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) within two years.
• Member of UN-convened Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), a global group of banks, since December 2023.
• Signatory to Principles for Responsible Banking (UN PRB) since September 2019
• One of the founding members of a joint business and government forum on climate issues and green solutions, Green by Iceland, in September 2019
• Equal pay certification from the union VR since 2015 and equal pay symbol from the Ministry of Welfare since 2018
• Signatory to Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) since 2017
• Founding member of IcelandSIF, Iceland Sustainable Investment Forum
• Signatory to UN Global Compact, the UN’s initiative on sustainability since 2016
• Signatory to the City of Reykjavík and Festa’s Declaration on Climate Change since 2015
• Recognized as a company which has achieved excellence in corporate governance by the Center for Corporate Governance since 2015
• Signatory to Women’s Empowerment Principles (UN Women) and the UN Global Compact since 2014
• Partner of Festa, a sustainability center

Environmental Policy: We aim to be a role model on environmental and climate issues and to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and the negative environmental impact of our activities. Man-made climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time and it is critical that global warming is restricted to below 1.5 degrees Celsius. We are committed to helping Iceland meet its obligations under the Paris Climate Agreement and other local and international environmental and climate agreements. We support Iceland’s ambitious plans to have net zero emissions by 2040, and the Bank aims to be net zero itself the same year.

Environmental Targets for 2030 [3]:

• Percentage of sustainable lending will be at least 20% of the Bank’s total loan book.
• Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from own activities (Scopes 1 and 2) by 80% calculated from 2015 and remaining emissions will be carbon offset.
• Continuous efforts to obtain a more accurate picture of emissions from acquired goods and services (Scope 3) in the Bank’s activities.
• Aim for reductions in financed emissions in the sectors which have the most impact (Scope 3) in line with the net zero target by 2040. The latest targets are published annually in the Bank’s report on financed emissions.
• Targets on financed emissions should be validated by SBTi.

Sub-targets for the Bank's operations in 2024:

• Work towards ensuring percentage of sorted waste in the Bank’s operations is at least 90%.
• The Bank continues to only buy vehicles which run on 100% renewables.

Social Targets for 2024

• Work in accordance with the Bank’s action plan on equality and human rights which applies for three years at a time.
• Increase percentage of investment by women [4].