Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG becomes Signatory of the global Principles for Responsible Banking

December 19, 2019, Geneva – Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG has become an official Signatory of the UN Principles for Responsible Banking – a single framework for a sustainable banking industry developed through an innovative partnership between banks worldwide and United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative. 

The Principles for Responsible Banking set out the banking industry’s role and responsibility in shaping a sustainable future and in aligning the banking sector with the objectives of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. They also, importantly, enable a bank to embed sustainability across all its business areas, and to identity where it has the potential to make the most impact in its contributions to a sustainable world. They also position a bank to leverage new business opportunities with the emergence of the sustainable development economy.

The Liechtenstein based Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG was already amongst the first to commit to the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2009 and „Responsibility in Wealth“ represents one of its core values. Hence this extended commitment – again as a first mover – is just a logical next step.

Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG has a rich history in responsible wealth management. In 2004, Chairman Fritz Kaiser sparked the idea to create a platform concerned with the responsibilities attached to wealth, known as the Private Wealth Council. This international group of investors, wealth management professionals and visionary thinkers, among them former US vice-president Al Gore, embarked on a quest to find a universal formula for “Responsible Wealth”. The resulting deep understanding of investors’ responsibilities towards both society and our (natural) environment led Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG to adopt the resulting UN Principles for Responsible Investment as early as 2009. Ever since, our wealth management services incorporated a strong commitment to invest responsibly, namely by aligning investment decisions with sustainability considerations using an approach to take into account Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria.

Complementing the care given to the responsibilities that come with our clients’ wealth, we are also avidly aware of those stemming from our own company’s growing operations. As a business, we are not only committed to live up to the high standards clients have come to expect from our services; but also compelled to align our own operations with the legitimate demands of society, our environment and the people working for us. This is why we decided, based on our core value “Responsibility in Wealth” and our history as an early mover in sustainability matters, to improve systematically our own footprint by signing the UNEP FI Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB).

Christian Reich, Chief Executive Officer of Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG said: “We are glad and proud to be the first Liechtenstein bank to commit to the UNEP FI Principles for Responsible Banking, as we were when we gave our declaration to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment in 2009. At Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG, thinking and acting sustainably is within the DNA. Therefore, it is logical and consequential that we cover all areas of sustainability – environmental, social and governance – when performing our business. We herewith solemnly affirm and express our commitment to become an active leader in spreading and strengthening sustainability in general and the Principles for Responsible Banking in particular throughout the world.“

More information about the Principles for Responsible Banking available here: www.unepfi.org/responsiblebanking