The PKO Bank Polski Group and PKO Bank Polski for the second time present their Statement on the non-financial information.
[GRI 102-1, 102-51] The Statement forms a separate part of the Group Directors' Report and was first published for 2018. [GRI 102-50] The Statement covers the operating activities of the Group in the period from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019. [GRI 102-52] The Group publishes such information on an annual basis. [GRI 102-54] The Statement has been prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards (Core option) and the domestic non-financial reporting requirements as defined by the provisions of the Accounting Act. Both the parent entity (PKO Bank Polski) and the bank's Group satisfy the criteria designated for an entity that is required to draw up such Statement. The individual issues covered in the Statement have been presented on a Group basis, along separate disclosures for the bank. [GRI 102-10, 102-49] The reporting standard for the Statement for 2019 was changed to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) from the domestic Non-Financial Information Standard (SIN) applied to statements in prior years.
[GRI 102-56, 102-48] The Statement on the non-financial information for 2019 is not subject to an external audit and does not contain any adjustments to information provided in previous reports. [GRI 102-42, 102-46] The preparation of the Statement was preceded by a materiality analysis of issues specified in the Accounting Act that had been conducted in the autumn of 2019. The first stage of the analysis involved a review of the relevant stakeholders of the Group to date, including of the bank, and the areas of interactions between the Group's entities and the environment. [GRI 102-40, 102-47] We identified the following stakeholder groups and non-financial issues:
| Significant stakeholder groups | Key non-financial issues |
| Shareholders | Management: Ethics, Information policy, Internal control system |
| Customers | Environmental: Extended environmental responsibility |
| Social environment, including local communities | Social: Product and consumer safety, Marketing communication, Privacy protection, Counteracting corruption, Human rights, Local communities and social involvement, Collaboration with public entities, Relationships with subcontractors and suppliers |
| Employees | Employment: Employment, salaries and diversity, Relations with employees, Occupational safety and health, Employee development and education |
The second stage involved a scope analysis of the management areas covered by the Statement, together with a review of the existing policies at the bank and the Group's subsidiaries. The following tools were used in the study of materiality:
- in-depth interviews with representatives of the organizational units covering individual areas at the bank's headquarters,
- analysis of the minutes of meetings held with investors in terms of them raising social and environmental issues of importance to them,
- inquiries forwarded by the bank to its subsidiaries to supplement the existing knowledge,
- review of the internal and external regulations (i.e. generally applicable provisions of law).
The study of materiality showed that the bank and most subsidiaries already have in place the appropriate policies in all areas covered by the Statement, while the risks considered to be key risks have already been identified as part of the risk management process. In instances where such policies were still in preparation, they have been clearly pointed out. The Statement observes the principle of disclosing information in its appropriate context, in order to facilitate a better understanding of the issue at hand (this applies to the description of risks identified in the Group in chapters on the respective social and environmental issues). The “comply or explain” principle has been observed throughout: where full coordination of selected policies at the Group level was incomplete, an explanation has been added.