Case studies of 11 Vietnamese commercial banks in 2022

The assessment report on the ESG policies of 10 Vietnamese commercial banks in 2020 showed that these banks had just taken the initial steps towards publicly disclosed ESG policy commitments. If this is thought of as a “race to the top”, they had just started the climb.

The 2022 report, analysing for the second time the ESG policy commitments of 11 Vietnamese commercial banks, including 10 from the first analysis and one new bank, shows that Vietnamese commercial banks are changing with new progress in the ‘race to the top’. ESG commitments have been publicly mentioned in various policies, 2021 sustainable development reports, 2021 annual reports, and official information sources of these institutions. This change is not taking place at the same pace in all the banks assessed. There are differences across themes and in the magnitude of change in each institution.

Analysis of ESG policy commitments of Vietnamese commercial banks in 2022 shows that there has been an improvement across all three pillars (Environment (E), Social (S), and Governance (G)) compared to 2020. Of the three pillars, (E) witnessed the least change, followed by (S). The (G) pillar witnessed the most obvious change. However, similar to the first analysis, Vietnamese commercial banks’ policy commitments on ESG have just entered the initial stage.

The analytical approach is based on the FFG methodology updated in 2021 by Profundo and FFI. The report “INITIAL STEPS TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY: ENVIRONMENTAL – SOCIAL – GOVERNANCE COMMITMENTS IN THE BANKING SECTOR: Case Studies of 11 Vietnamese Commercial Banks 2022″ provides analytical results and recommendations to commercial banks and SBV for the enhancement of ESG integration in their policies, information disclosures, and implementation towards international norms and standards.

The report consists of five main sections as follows:

Introduction

Part one: Overview of ESG in the Finance – Banking Sector

Part Two: Introduction to the Methodology

Part Three: ESG Policy Commitments of 11 Vietnamese Commercial Banks

Part Four: Conclusions and Recommendations

Read full report here in Vietnamese and in English

Fair Finance Vietnam (FFV) is the creation of the collective efforts of several organisations, including the Center for Water Conservation and Development (WARECOD), Business Administration Faculty – Hanoi University of Industry (HaUI), Communication Initiative Todocabi and Oxfam in Vietnam. They are currently active in the field of environmental protection, education, communication and community participation for sustainable development.

For more information, please contact: 

Bui Thi Thu Ha, Fair Finance Project Manager, Oxfam in Vietnam. Email: ha.buithithu@oxfam.org.vn