Commitment to sustainable reporting culture

is key to Bangladesh banks' transparency

and efficiency
Majority of banks do not practice sustainability reporting

Stakeholders and top managements of commercial banks in Bangladesh need to be organised and
have greater social accountability to ensure sustainable development. Globally, sustainability
reporting practice has already become one of the mainstream activities among financial
institutions and banks. However, majority of banks in Bangladesh have yet to adopt the reporting
practice.

According to a recent study, only 12% of commercial banks published a sustainability report
separately in their annual report following the GRI reporting guideline while 39% of banks have
reported sustainability separately in their annual reports without adhering to the GRI guidelines.
Around 49% of banks neither published nor disclosed any sustainability report in their annual
reports. It indicates an increasing trend in all phases. Specific reasons include lack of focus on
sustainability reporting, budget for preparing and disclosing report, and lack of trained
manpower to oversee its preparation.

To align with the United Nation’s SDGs, banks need to determine the global agenda for activity
on the prosperity and well-being of the country’s present and upcoming generations. There are
17 SDGs which have been set in motion to handle the most important challenges of the world
within 2030. The actions to be taken by banks in their targeted areas must support the fulfilment
of priority goals.