The National Bank of Economic and Social Development (BNDES) has just obtained its first ESG rating and was appointed as one of the best ranked companies by the agency Vigeo Eiris (V.E.). With an ‘A1+’ rating on the agency’s scale and a score of 64 – out of a total of 100 possible points – the development bank is among the top 2% of 4913 companies.

The V.E highlights as strengths of the BNDES the advanced integration of ESG factors in investment and lending activities carried out by the Bank; the use of systems in international standard to prevent discrimination and promote careers in its workforce; and the employment of comprehensive efforts to prevent corrupt practices and mitigate money laundering risks in its activities. Despite this, the agency points out opportunities for improvement, noting that the bank does not monitor CO2 emissions from its credit portfolio and also does not have performance indicators and ESG targets.

It is the first time that the state-owned bank obtains a requested rating, that is, ordered and paid for, and the hiring of Vigeo Eiris was made under a letter of agreement signed with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for the promotion of green finance instruments.