Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Commitment at Synovus
Being environmentally responsible, socially committed, and employing strong, transparent governance practices are essential to who we are. We’re driven every day by Our Purpose – to be the bank that leads and strengthens our communities and serves the needs of our customers through real, personal relationships. We enjoy a strong reputation and our legacy is built on our people-first culture.
As a regional financial institution with locally-focused leadership, we’re deeply committed to serving communities of all sizes, demographics, and economic prospects. We believe the best way to ensure the long-term health of our bank is to help ensure the health of the communities we serve. We express our commitment through Here Matters, our community outreach program.
We are dedicated to serving as a stable source of value creation for our shareholders through sound corporate governance, a robust shareholder engagement program, and effectively stewarding shareholder capital.1
Throughout the year, members of our senior leadership team meet with a number of our shareholders to discuss our corporate strategy, financial performance, long-term objectives, credit risks, capital management, enterprise risk management, corporate governance, and ESG-related matters. The feedback we receive and the perspectives shared are carefully considered by our management team and have influenced several important changes over the years.
Our focus on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors is about long-term financial sustainability and how to incorporate ESG risks and opportunities into our strategy. Our governance framework is firmly rooted in risk management and compliance and establishes the foundation of our sustainability and ESG program.
Frameworks & Standards
To guide our ESG efforts and reporting, we leverage the Accounting Standards for Commercial Banks from the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB). These standards identify the ESG areas that are likely to be most relevant to our financial and operating performance. Read more in the Sustainability Section of the Synovus 2020 Proxy.
| Topic | Accounting Metric | Code | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data Security | (1) Number of data breaches, (2) percentage involving personally identifiable information (PII), (3) number of account holders affected | FN-CB-230a.1 | Customer Privacy and Data Security |
| Description of approach to identifying and addressing data security risks | FN-CB-230a.2 | ||
| Financial Inclusion & Capacity Building | (1) Number and (2) amount of loans outstanding qualified to programs designed to promote small business and community development | FN-CB-240a.1 | Access, Affordability, and Community Development |
| (1) Number and (2) amount of past due and nonaccrual loans qualified to programs designed to promote small business and community development | FN-CB-240a.2 | ||
| Number of no-cost retail checking accounts provided to previously unbanked or underbanked customers | FN-CB-240a.3 | ||
| Number of participants in financial literacy initiatives for unbanked, underbanked, or underserved customers | FN-CB-240a.4 | ||
| Incorporation of Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors in Credit Analysis | Commercial and industrial credit exposure, by industry | FN-CB-410a.1 | ESG Factors in Credit Risk Management |
| Description of approach to incorporation of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in credit analysis | FN-CB-410a.2 | ||
| Business Ethics | Total amount of monetary losses as a result of legal proceedings associated with fraud, insider trading, anti-trust, anti-competitive behavior, market manipulation, malpractice, or other related financial industry laws or regulations | FN-CB-510a.1 | Commitment to Ethics and Compliance |
| Description of whistleblower policies and procedures | FN-CB-510a.2 | ||
| Systemic Risk Management | Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB) score, by category | FN-CB-550a.1 | Systemic Risk Management |
| Description of approach to incorporation of results of mandatory and voluntary stress tests into capital adequacy planning, long-term corporate strategy, and other business activities | FN-CB-550a.2 |