Evenord-Bank eG-KG: Best Sustainable Regional Bank Germany 2020

A committed, courageous, and contrarian cooperative society, Germany’s Evenord-Bank plots its own course with waypoints firmly anchored in ethical principles. Instead of embarking on a blind pursuit of institutional growth, the Nuremberg-based bank has kept its focus on serving the community – and remaining a trusted partner to businesses and households.

As befits a bank with a refreshingly different outlook, Evenord-Bank’s history is rather singular. The bank, quite literally, sprouted from the tills of the eponymous wholesale cooperative where local restaurateurs, chefs, and shopkeepers have been buying groceries since 1924.Next year, Evenord-Bank celebrates its 60^th anniversary. No outsized display of fireworks is expected. The bank’s strength and resilience are rooted in a philosophy that prizes modesty and restraint. Though it may lack pretentiousness, Evenord-Bank is a recognised leader in value-based banking.

Decades before concepts such as corporate social responsibility and sustainability became all-important, Evenord-Bank had already quietly incorporated these principles – and others regarding environmental stewardship and care – into its day-to-day operations. The bank maintains a comprehensive list of exclusions and will, for example, decline business from countries that fail to respect human rights and companies engaged in unethical practices.

Today, the corporate world has at long last caught up with Evenord-Bank which now finds itself in the vanguard of a shift to a business model that measures performance and outcomes over extended timespans as opposed to the next quarter. Perhaps the most valuable wisdom that the Bavarian cooperative can impart concerns the recognition that continuity is a function of change: listen carefully, accept sensible suggestions, and remember that nothing is set in stone. The CFI.co judging panel is thrilled to offer Evenord-Bank eG-KG the 2020 Best Sustainable Regional Bank Germany Award.