National Bank of Greece: Best Corporate Governance Greece 2023

The National Bank of Greece (NBG) has begun to witness results from a transformation over five years in the making. Against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions, lingering pandemic impacts and climate crises, NBG has delivered another year of strong financial performance and responsible governance. The bank exited a restructuring plan in 2022 and has now entered a more extroverted phase. NBG aims to be a catalyst for growth, accelerating progress and prosperity for its clients and the country at large. It continues to push the boundaries of technology while maintaining a human focus. Artificial intelligence, robotics process automation and optical character readers are some of the more recent rollouts, but in-branch assistance will always be available for any tech-averse clients. The bank is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and has expanded perimeters for assessing and disclosing emissions associated with its activities. NBG is implementing science-based decarbonisation targets across carbon-intensive sectors and is earmarking an increasing amount of financing for renewable energy and transition projects. It introduced employee relief measures against the increased cost of living and a reward programme to protect mortgage holders against future increases in reference rates. NGB has established an innovation and sustainability committee to support its long-term vision and adopted ESG risk assessments for suppliers. It is collaborating with expert partners, including EVO Payments, to expand the offering. The CFI.co judging panel presents NBG — a repeat programme winner — with the 2023 award for Best Corporate Governance (Greece).