The relationships we have with our suppliers are based on ethics and transparency, as outlined in the Third-party Standardization Policy and our Principles of Responsible Conduct for Suppliers. These principles state that these relationships must be aligned with financial sector guidelines, our Responsible Banking principles, and the principles of the Global Compact, in terms of Human Rights, Labor Standards, Environmental and Anticorruption criteria.
Aquanima is the Bank’s procurement hub, and, alongside our Comprehensive Expense Management area, it is tasked with defining, monitoring and evaluating any procurement processes and third-party payments. It also has a team that manages any risks stemming from the provision of goods and services by suppliers called the Vendor Risk Assessment Center (VRAC). VRAC coordinates the application of a series of surveys regarding the level of commitment of our suppliers in areas such as Code of Conduct or Ethics, Anticorruption, Data Protection, Diversity and Inclusion, Social Responsibility, and Environmental Issues, among others.
During 2022, we successfully completed the first round of ESG assessment encompassing the major suppliers at a Group level. In Mexico, we received a favorable response from our suppliers, ranking us as one of the best regions in the Group regarding ESG suppliers.
We also held two different training sessions during the year. These two sessions focused on anti-corruption training for suppliers and ESG training for suppliers.
Our Third-party Standardization Policy analyzes and monitors supplier and third-party compliance with the minimum conditions and requirements expected by the Bank in order to mitigate any risks inherent to the functions or activities being undertaken by third parties.
The standardization process can be implemented in three different ways:
We have rolled out a series of questions focusing on ESG as part of our supplier assessment in order to evaluate each supplier’s situation vis-à-vis sustainability. The process involves sending a questionnaire to suppliers who provide services to the Group’s entities and are part of the ESG certification process. The current questionnaire is divided into three pillars: environmental, social and governance.
Responses from suppliers are assessed based on the ESG Supplier Assessment Methodology, and a score is given depending on their level of compliance.
This questionnaire allows us to identify our suppliers’ areas of opportunity. In the event that they do not obtain the minimum score required, the supplier must create and execute a plan to address any possible deficiencies in order to position themselves within the Group’s level of acceptable risk.
This process is undertaken throughout the service period, i.e., it is reviewed when engaging new suppliers, and active suppliers are reviewed during the standardization stage in order to ensure that this process is efficient and that the corresponding information is stored on our corporate platform.
From 2022, we began rolling out these ESG assessments, and some of the suppliers evaluated began a process of remediation, during which ESG training sessions were applied to consolidate control measures and raise awareness among these companies of this issue.
