Forum Ethibel innovates

Forum Ethibel innovates

The history of Forum Ethibel is one of constant innovation. Today, Forum Ethibel is taking the initiative in sustainable reporting that is mandatory in the context of the European Green Deal. Forum Ethibel is also at the start of Second Party Opinions (SPO). These SPOs provide certainty about the compliance of loans with the Green Loan Principles (GL P), the Social Loan Principles (SPL) or the Sustainability Linked Loans Principles (SLLP). These are the latest initiatives in a tradition of innovation that is the common thread in the thirty-year history of our organization.

In 1992, stockbroker Van Moer-Santerre & Co – the founder of Keytrade Bank – launched the first Belgian sustainable investment fund. From the start, this fund opted to apply what we know today as ESG criteria to all sub-domains of corporate social responsibility. This approach was still groundbreaking at the time. Ethibel provided an investment register, drawn up based on its own positive criteria and research.

In the summer of 1995, BACOB became Ethibel's first banking customer. Ethibel drew up exclusion criteria for BACOB and conducted research into approximately 150 companies and values. It led to the launch of the first Stimulus Funds.
That same summer, ASLK - which later merged with BNP Paribas Fortis - also came knocking. This was the start of what would become Krekelsparen. The money from the Krekelssavings account only went to ethically responsible investments in the green, social or development sector.
In the summer of 2002, Ethibel launched the Ethibel Sustainability Index together with Standard & Poor's.
Since 2011, social economy companies on the Belgian market can, subject to a positive audit report from Forum, be awarded the Solid'R ethical label. The presence of private operators, sometimes under pseudo-humanitarian guise, is a source of confusion among the public. The label aims to distinguish organizations that are committed to voluntary compliance with ethical and solidarity rules and to their control by an independent body.

Since 2016, Forum Ethibel has also advised institutional investors on the sustainability content of their investment portfolio. The customization ranges from a baseline measurement, through the formulation and implementation of a sustainability policy, to annual monitoring.

Would you like to know more about Forum Ethibel’s innovative solutions? Click here or make an appointment with Remi. Who knows, we might also have an innovative solution to make your finances more sustainable.

Subscribe to our newsletter