The European Central Bank (ECB) has imposed periodic penalty payments totaling €187,650 on ABANCA Corporación Bancaria, S.A. for failing to properly assess and document the materiality of its climate-related and environmental (C&E) risks. The ECB’s decision of 1 December 2023 required ABANCA to strengthen its identification of material C&E risks and set a compliance deadline of 31 March 2024. ABANCA missed this requirement for 65 days in 2024. The ECB’s penalty reflects the severity and duration of the breach as well as the bank’s daily turnover. This measure is part of a broader ECB supervisory framework on C&E risks, initiated in 2020, which includes guidance, stress tests, thematic reviews, and legally binding enforcement actions to ensure banks manage and disclose such risks transparently. ABANCA has the right to challenge the decision before the Court of Justice of the European Union.
(ecb.europa.eu)
