Case study: Medium-sized private bank in Switzerland

The issue

The client, a medium-sized private bank in Switzerland, recognised that its external reporting on sustainability matters had some weaknesses. Since the bank promoted sustainability and responsibility in some of its products, these reporting weaknesses undermined the credibility of those products. Consequently, the board of directors wanted to have the company’s sustainability reporting reviewed by an external party with a view toward assuring the quality of the reporting and mitigating the risk of misstatements.

Our approach

On the client’s behalf, a team of PricewaterhouseCoopers sustainability reporting specialists:

• Assessed both sustainability reporting best practices and the requirements set by the local banking industry
• Reviewed a sample of the bank’s sustainability data and the underlying systems and processes generating that data
• Prepared a detailed management letter that not only allowed the client to remediate issues observed during the assurance process, but also provided a framework for improving the reporting system overall
• Provided an assurance report that the client published in its sustainability report

The outcome

Our review of the client’s sustainability reporting structures helped the bank improve its processes, including data collection, data processing, controls, and documentation. A further positive effect is that the internal level of awareness regarding sustainability matters increased and the bank’s external credibility was strengthened.