Annual report
SOCIAL DIMENSION
Involvement in the local area, commitment to social and economic development in that area and social responsibility have been the distinguishing features of the Savings Banks since they were established. This is reflected in the manner in which the profits generated by their normal activity of intermediation and provision of services are distributed.
In addition to providing the necessary provisions for building up reserves to bolster their capitalization and solvency, a proportion of their profits are ploughed back into society through their social welfare work programme.
In 2009, the Basque-Navarre Savings Banks allocated 213.5 million euros to their social welfare work, a figure which represents 38% of their net profits. What distinguishes savings banks from other financial institutions is their high level of involvement in their local area. This is translated into a marked social vocation and commitment to the social and economic welfare of the area where they are based, to such an extent that their social orientation is one of their distinguishing features and founding principles.
This social vocation is reflected in the manner in which the profits generated by their normal activity of intermediation and provision of services are distributed. In addition to providing the necessary provisions for building up reserves to bolster their capitalization and solvency, a proportion of their profits are ploughed back into society through their social welfare work.
There are many ways that this vocation has been carried out over the years, and the common feature of all is to satisfy the needs of citizens in the various areas tackled. Over time, the savings banks' social welfare work has changed to match the changing needs of society in the area where they operate by restructuring preferential interest areas. In more recent times, the establishment of corporate social responsibility by financial institutions has merely reinforced the social welfare work that has always been carried out by savings banks by providing non-exclusive services of various types for wide sectors of society.
The social activity developed by each and every Federation Savings Bank is extremely important and is in keeping with their philosophy of support for the local area and its inhabitants.
There are three different type of social welfare work. The first type is the savings bank’s own social work which covers those initiatives and activities which are instigated directly by the savings bank itself. The second type is known as social welfare work in collaboration which covers those social activities which are developed and managed jointly by the savings banks and other public and private institutions. The third type is social welfare work for others, whereby the savings banks merely contribute but do not administer resources.
For several years now, the trend has been for a growing prevalence of the savings banks’ own social welfare work which has become the main format under which social activity is developed and their corporate social responsibility materializes. At the close of 2009, the social welfare work fund of the Basque-Navarre Savings Banks totalled 342.8 million euros.
During this financial year, member institutions allocated 213.5 million euros to social welfare work. In a setting as contractive as the present one, maintaining an almost similar figure to that of the previous financial year (214 million euros) gives a clear idea of the importance attached by the Federation Savings Banks to their social welfare work programme.
If we consider the contribution of Basque-Navarre Savings Banks in terms of the entire GDP for the ACBC and Navarra, we find that their efforts and commitment have continued to grow, reaching 3.25 per thousand in 2009 - the highest in the last decade.
We can also assess the commitment to social welfare work in terms of the populations in the areas befitting from the social work carried out by these institutions. If we take the estimation data for each area as compiled annually by the Central Statistical Office (INE), the social dividend per inhabitant of the ACBC and Navarra amounted to 78.2 euros, slightly higher than that of the previous year.
Once again, the social commitment of the Federation Savings Banks was apparent from their local generation of wealth which in turn benefited the local community. An analysis of the amount and proportion with which the resources destined for social work have been distributed among the different areas of social activity revealed that healthcare and social welfare, with a 1.8% increase, were the main receptors with 135 million euros (48.9% of the total); culture and leisure activities, with a 14% increase, were responsible for 76.3 million euros (27.6% of the total); education and research, with a 19% increase, were responsible for 49.3 million euros (17.9% of the total); and finally, activities relating to artistic and natural wealth, with a 15% decrease, took up the remaining 15.4 million euros (6% of the total).
