ESG Development in Banks 2023 update

This week we are excited to kick-start the updates of our annual ESG Development Heatmaps. As in the past, these heatmaps are designed to evaluate the Mexican market’s ESG maturity level on both companies’ strategies and communication efforts.

First, a reminder: Our sector heatmaps are based exclusively on publicly available information and cover only Mexican companies listed on either of the local stock exchanges (BMV and/or BIVA). As a result, if a company has not yet published its annual sustainability report by the time we release our analysis, its results will reflect the most recent available data.

Unlike rating agencies, we don’t assess the depth or breadth of the ESG strategies disclosed—such as the specific material topics a company is addressing or the targets they’ve set. Instead, we evaluate the process by which these strategies are developed (e.g., whether the company follows the correct steps, aligns with relevant initiatives) and how effectively they communicate this to the market.

Having said, we are starting today with banks. Let’s look at what they did over 2023 vs 2022.

Banks

Source: Publicly available company materials

* Considering Grupo Carso’s report

What can we read from this heatmap?

1. This year, Actinver published its first materiality analysis and sustainability report (which included its contributions to SDGs).
2. Banorte, BBVA, and Regional updated their materiality analyses.
3. No bank has yet published a full set of KPIs or KPI goals for all their material topics.
4. No additional TCFD-aligned analyses, commitments to SBTi, or CDP affiliations were announced.
5.  As of today, BanBajio and GF Inbursa (through Grupo Carso) have not published updated annual reports. With this, 63% of the sector has published 2023 sustainability (or integrated) reports. As the year progresses this is likely to increase further, taking this sector close to the top of sustainable reporting.

Just like last year, banks continue to be a relatively mature sector. While some have yet to fully establish and embrace formal ESG commitments, Actinver’s recent efforts did improve the sector’s heatmap. Moving forward, we would ideally like to see broader disclosures of key performance indicators (KPIs) alongside concrete goal-setting. Additionally, we encourage banks that have not yet formalized a sustainability strategy to take steps to bridge this gap.

I hope you found this interesting. As usual, if there is anything we can help you with, or if there is an ESG topic you would like to know more about, please let us know.

Best,

Marimar

CEO, Miranda ESG