At its most senior level, responsibility for CSR is vested with the Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors, who has delegated responsibility for carrying out the associated tasks to the CSR manager. The CSR manager reports directly to the Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors.
The CSR manager consults with relevant internal and external parties, and prepares policy proposals based on these consultations. These policy proposals are discussed by the Executive Committee, which consists of all the members of the Board of Managing Directors as well as a number of general managers, and are approved by the Board of Managing Directors. After approval the CSR manager ensures the policy is implemented efficiently. To this end, the CSR manager sets up and coordinates various CSR working groups within the organisation, including the Green Team and the Next Generation project team.
Ethical Council
Van Lanschot also has an Ethical Council, which is made up of the members of the Executive Committee, the head of Compliance and the CSR manager. The Ethical Council meets once every six weeks to deal with CSR issues arising within the organisation and social issues that have a bearing on Van Lanschot’s activities. The CSR manager incorporates the Ethical Council’s decisions in policy, internal guidelines and internal and external communication.
Some of the subjects discussed by the Ethical Council:
Arms policy
The Ethical Council considered Van Lanschot’s arms policy at the start of 2010. In addition to the precise definition of ‘controversial weapons’, the list of banned countries was also discussed. Van Lanschot speaks out against the funding of weapons and munitions supplied to dubious customers, terrorist organisations, local war lords in war-torn areas (including areas where civil wars are ongoing) and organised crime, and also against the supply of weapons to the governments of banned countries. The list of banned countries is based on the European sanctions list and is used as part of the CSR lending policy.
Environmental offences
At the end of 2010, the Ethical Council discussed a number of topical CSR issues in relation to a specific client. At that point, the client’s business had been the subject of a scandal for some time owing to environmental offences. Opposition from parties in the business’s immediate surroundings continued to grow, and regulators took increasingly rigorous steps on a more and more frequent basis. In connection with this, the Ethical Council discussed the extent to which this client complied with Van Lanschot’s CSR criteria. The subject of the best course of action that Van Lanschot can take in such situations was also discussed. The outcome of this discussion included the decision to develop a strategy of active engagement for this client.
Environmental Social Governance Council (ESG)
In addition to the Ethical Council, KCM has an Environmental Social Governance Council (ESG Council), on which two external consultants (from GES and the European Centre for Corporate Engagement) serve alongside investment specialists from Kempen and Van Lanschot. The ESG Council is responsible for formulating and implementing the sustainable investment policy and discusses specific cases that are encountered during day-to-day investment activities. It meets four times a year and maintains close contact with the CSR manager.