Corporate Governance and Access to Finance - ESBG

For example, the charter of Caixanova states among its main social objectivesthe “facilitation of all kind of financial and para-financial services aimedat improving both satisfaction and coverage of the community’s needsand demands, as long as they are compatible with a reasonable globalprofitability and the limits of the corporate social responsibility”.The Civic Banking model of Caja Navarra (CAN) provides a very goodexample of stakeholders’ participation in the use of the profits. Clients areinformed of the amount of profits generated by their individual transactions,an innovative aspect of transparency that will surely be extended to otherparticipants in the market, and they decide to which projects, amongthose fulfilling certain criteria, should these profits be allocated. Only in2008, nearly 600,000 clients participated in this initiative.Among represented stakeholders, the role of Municipalities stands out fortheir relevance in maintaining the regional roots of the institution.Municipal bodies have a particular interest in guaranteeing access tofinance in their respective towns, which partly explains the vocation ofCajas for being present in as many rural locations as possible. Apart fromtheir specific representation in the General Assembly (25% on averagefor the whole system), Municipalities often hold additional seats withinthe founding entities representation, which renders them the biggestunified voice among all stakeholders, after depositors (see figure A.3.).In the context of a new regulation to promote transparency of entitiesissuing securities tradable in official secondary markets, the mandatorypublication of an Annual Corporate Governance Report was introducedin 2003, also affecting savings banks. However, no specific CorporateGovernance recommendations for savings banks have been issued at themoment, although there are several ongoing initiatives in this direction.In this sense, it is worth pointing out that the Spanish Cajas were pioneer inthe adaptation of the disclosure of social and environmental information tothe guidelines of the Guide for the elaboration of sustainability reports 2006(GRI-G3) and more specifically to its Financial Services Sector Supplement.The Cajas’ commitment to transparency and communication to itsstakeholders has been systematically fulfilled with the adoption of the G3and the creation of a working group aiming at achieving standardizationof relevant sectoral information and the definition of the financial sectorindicators, under GRI framework and coordination.140