CSR policy

Economic development is no longer possible without environmental and social progress. It is the responsibility of major companies to suggest the next virtuous models, models that encourage positive transformations of the world.

Societe Generale is fully aware of the responsibility of being bankers. Our Group has a leading role to play in helping build greener and more inclusive development models, and enabling the emergence of new drivers of sustainable growth.

Societe Generale's mission is guided by several business focal points, centred around the positive influence the Group seeks to have on the world: climate change, social innovation and sustainable development in Africa, as well as three cross-functional areas that dictate the conduct of our business : customer satisfaction and protection, ethics and governance, our role as a socially responsible employer. All of our staff members are fully aware of their responsibilities and have been made aware of the importance of transparency, compliance, ethics, regulatory requirements and data protection issues.

SOCIETE GENERALE FACTORING CONTRIBUTES TO AND PARTICIPATES IN THE 4 CSR PILLARS OF THE SOCIETE GENERALE GROUP

The four pillars of our CSR ambition have been identified and are interconnected. Two of them form the framework of responsible banking: the culture of responsibility and being a responsible employer. The other two areas are the drivers of the positive transformations of the Group's action as a responsible bank: supporting the ecological transition and developing the regions. We act by making our own commitments but also by offering our customers innovative sustainable solutions that help them increase their ESG transition goals and create positive impact.  

In order to support our clients with their ESG transition goals, we designed two new categories of ESG offers, which are applicable to our flagship products serving corporate clients. These  include receivable finance, supply chain finance and forfaiting (discounting of commercial bills).

ENVIRONMENTAL AND/OR SOCIAL FINANCING

The first category of solutions proposed by Societe Generale Factoring aims to finance business activities with positive environmental or social impacts.

Eligible environmental projects must involve assets in a list of eligible categories2, such as  renewable energy, waste management, clean transportation, hydrogen and sustainable water and waste-water management.

Eligible social projects concern the financing of social or societal claims from, for example, social and solidarity-based companies and associations, education and training, or social housing. The sectors principally concerned include healthcare, in particular hospitals, health insurance, as well as organisations caring for adults and children with disabilities.

A SUSTAINIBILITY-LINKED OFFER

The sustainability-linked (SL) solution is aimed at companies that have developed an ambitious CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) strategy to improve the environmental and social impacts of their activities. It rewards the achievement of CSR objectives as defined by our clients.

This approach encourages the transition of companies and their suppliers to more sustainable growth models. It is particularly appropriate for Supply Chain Finance programmes of large corporates that have many suppliers, such as mass retailers or industrial manufacturers.

"With these new categories of offers, Societe Generale Factoring extends the Societe Generale Group's commitment to supporting the ESG transition of its corporate clients to greener and more inclusive development models. They continue the work done on a daily basis by our teams alongside corporate treasurers" says Aurélien Viry, CEO of Societe Generale Factoring.


Link to our ESG offer for Receivables Finance
Link to our ESG offer for Supply Chain Finance
Link to our ESG offer for Forfaiting


_{1 ESG: Environmental, Social and Governance
2 “Eligible social projects” match the criteria based on Societe Generale’s internal standards which have been defined in accordance with the European taxonomy for sustainable activities. Categories other than those already mentioned can be accepted into “green” labels in accordance with globally recognised sustainable finance standards and with the clients’ ESG objectives.}

We are launching financing solutions related to environmental and social criteria for SME/ETI, SME/ETI companies and associations in France, to enable them to develop a more responsible and sustainable growth model. These ESG versions are applicable to our main existing factoring offers.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND/OR SOCIAL FINANCING

This solution aims to finance business activities with positive environmental or social impacts.

Eligible environmental projects must involve underlying assets in a list of eligible categories, such as renewable energy, waste management, clean transportation, hydrogen and sustainable water and waste-water management.

Eligible social projects concern the financing of social or societal claims from, for example, social and solidarity-based companies and associations, education and training, or social housing. The sectors principally concerned include healthcare, in particular hospitals, health insurance, as well as organisations caring for adults and children with disabilities.

Eligible customers will benefit from a reduction on the financing commission, to encourage and support the development of their activity.

POSITIVE IMPACT FACTORING, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ECOVADIS^[4]

It allows companies or associations to have an ESG index based on the Ecovadis* rating, and to decide on their strategic actions to improve their Environmental and Social impact. The financing commission for this factoring solution benefits from a reduction if the client achieves the objectives set when the contract was set up.

For more information, contact us.


_{[4] EcoVadis operates a global CSR performance assessment and sharing platform used by more than 100,000 companies of all sizes in 160 countries to drive resilience, sustainable growth and positive impact around the world.}