MKB Bank receives the 2021 Green Bank Award
MKB Bank, a member of the Hungarian Bankholding Group, received the 2021 Green Bank Award of the MNB. Since 2019 the central bank has been awarding the Green Finance Awards to the credit institutions, investment and insurance institutions that do the most to reduce the ecological footprint, with financial service providers bearing the title for one year. At the same time, the sustainability campaign of Takarékbank named “Tehetsz méh többet!” won the CSR DoingGood 2021 Special Mention award.
The Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB) organized its international green finance conference on December 1 as part of the Planet Budapest 2021 Sustainability Expo and World Summit. Within the framework of the conference, the central bank presented the Green Finance Awards to financial institutions: the jury awarded the Green Bank Award to MKB Bank, a member bank of Magyar Bankholding.
MNB announced its Green Program in February 2019 to support financial services in Hungary aimed at protecting the environment and to reduce financial market participants’ and its own ecological footprint. In assessing the award, the MNB examined the extent of green credit exposures of financial institutions, the portfolio of green bonds held by institutions, and the risk exposure of institutions to the effects of climate change.
The international green finance conference focused on the consequences of the COP26 climate summit on the financial system and environmental anomalies beyond climate change; on behalf of domestic market participants, the leaders of Hungarian Bankholding also shared their green financial experiences.
The banking group is committed to being a key player in creating sustainable economic operations in the domestic financial markets. Its key strategic goals include creating a range of products and services for retail and corporate customers that will help them achieve their own sustainability and climate goals, as well as contributing to the sustainability and climate goals of Hungary and the European Union.
"Financial market participants must set an example in environmental responsibility and in the strengthening of the sustainable approach, which is why it is extremely important for Hungarian Bankholding to encourage and support environmentally conscious solutions and objectives.”
The sustainability commitment of member banks of Bankholding is also demonstrated by the fact that on December 1, the Takarékbank sustainability campaign named “Tehetsz méh többet!” has won the CSR DoingGood 2021 Special Mention award after receiving the CSR Hungary 2021 Best Environmental Responsibility Award and the Trade Magazine Special Sustainability Award; in the same time, the Green Program of Budapest Bank was also recognized.
Background information
Hungarian Bankholding Ltd.
Hungarian Bankholding Ltd. is a domestically owned financial holding company, which aims to implement the merger of Budapest Bank Zrt., MKB Bank Nyrt. and Takarék Group. The company commenced its effective operation on 15 December 2020, after MNB (acting as the central bank of Hungary) approved the merger of three credit institutions, and the shares of the key owners were transferred to the joint holding company. By transferring the in-kind contributions, the second largest banking group in Hungary has been established.
In March 2021, the Board of Directors and the Supervisory Board of the Hungarian Bankholding approved their five-year strategy for the merger of the member banks, based on which the fusion of the three credit institutions is planned to be concluded in 2023. The aim of the emerging large bank is to be the most modern bank in Hungary, which will introduce flexible, internationally leading digital solutions.The new large bank will serve the full market spectrum and all customer segments in the future, with a significant emphasis on the provision of new, modern range of products and services to retail, micro, small and medium-sized enterprise and agricultural customers.