The company discloses how the socially and economically relevant stakeholders are identified and integrated into the sustainability process. It states whether and how an ongoing dialogue takes place with them and how the results are integrated into the sustainability process.
OLB defined the stakeholders which are socially or economically relevant for the Bank during its business activity and along the value chain: clients – classified in private clients, including private banking and wealth management, corporate and company clients as well as clients in the field of special financings –, in addition shareholders, employees and the public / media. Such identification of the stakeholders results from the Bank’s business process. People wishing to become clients of the Bank normally actively approach the OLB and are, from then on, in a dialogue between client and Bank. Media representatives actively register as media contacts which results in a regular active or reactive contact between the journalist and the Bank depending on the current matter at hand. The shareholders are another group of stakeholders and are automatically defined by the distribution of the shares in the Bank. And the employees also arise automatically as stakeholders since they are the persons working for OLB. These stakeholders are clearly delimitated and independent from each other.
The stakeholders in detail:
Clients
In the context of its business activity, OLB is in close contact and regular exchange with its clients, in particular with those requiring comprehensive consulting, such as corporate clients and wealthy private clients. The break-out of the Corona virus pandemic resulted in another increase of the need for consultation and support among many clients due to the economic consequences caused by the pandemic. In this exceptional situation and beyond, OLB advised and granted its own financial funds or arranged public funds, in particular, to commercial clients active in stationary retail trade or those operating restaurants, hotels or travel agencies who had been forced to close their business in times of the lockdown or were unable to perform their core activity.
The most important interface to the client remains the account manager, even in digital times. OLB continuously analyses how its clients see the Bank by conducting client surveys over the phone, by asking relevant questions during discussions or, to a larger extent, as part of organised analyses performed in certain intervals and based on the daily exchange with the clients on all sales channels. OLB further strengthens any of the aspects which received a positive feedback, such as e.g. the competency in personal advice; and any topics which were criticised by clients, such as changes in the location network, are explained in the best possible manner to clients by naming reasons and by giving timely alternatives for performing banking transactions.
For more than 30 years, the Bank has had an Advisory Board which consists of renowned personalities from the economy, science, culture and media. OLB‘s Advisory Board and the Board of Directors meet normally at least twice per year – apart from during the times of the Corona virus pandemic whose precautionary measures made it impossible – to exchange information on the current market situation and other topics relevant for the Bank. Members of the Advisory Board might also act as providers of ideas and impulses, while they also play an important role as multiplicators which goes far beyond the members of the Advisory Board. Members of the Advisory Board are appointed and dismissed by the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors appoints the chairman and their deputies.
Shareholders
OLB is backed by the following independent investors with long-term commitment and an excellent reputation as well as a strong financial basis: Teacher Retirement System of Texas (pension fund with retirement and comparable services for approx. 1.5 million payers and recipients in public and higher education– with registered office in Texas, USA), Apollo Global Management (leading global asset manager for equity, loan and real estate investments – registered office in Delaware, USA) and Grovepoint Investment Management (specialised private investment firm focused on private equity, credit and unique situations – registered office in London, United Kingdom). The shareholders represent their interests during the annual general meeting of OLB AG and through the Supervisory Board. The Supervisory Board consists of twelve members and represents the members directly elected by the employees of the Bank and the representatives elected by the shareholders.
Employees
The employee‘s right to codetermine matters of the Bank is ensured through the works councils active in the relevant business regions, the general works council and the employee representatives elected to the Supervisory Board. Senior officers of the Bank are represented by a spokesperson committee. And, representatives of young people and trainees and of severely disabled persons protect their special interests within the Bank. Employees are informed, as warranted, primarily by emails, during multimedia conferences or by personal meetings, or meetings directly with the Board of Directors – insofar as such were possible in the reporting year on account of the social distancing requirements and hygiene regulations imposed due to the Corona virus pandemic. In addition, OLB uploads comprehensive current information to a comprehensive Intranet portal, including longer reports, information, video films, etc. from the company, in case of need. The Bank obtains direct feedback from its employees in regular employee enquiries (not in the reporting year, due to normal rotation), in order to be able to consider relevant trends and opinions.
Public / media
OLB respects the professional independence of the media and differentiates between advertising for sales purposes and any communication for the purpose of corporate policies. That means, in particular, the OLB will not pay for printing editorial contributions, but attaches value to separating promotional ads and general information from the company. The bank continuously keeps the media and the public up to date or informs them about its business development or strategic decisions by publishing press releases and answering questions posed by the media. It actively sends information on special subjects to the press by using a media distributor for which interested representatives of the media had themselves registered by the Bank by observing the data protection provisions. OLB publishes relevant publications on the internet or additionally as a hardcopy version on a regular basis, such as e.g. financial reports, the disclosure report, the Code of Conduct, or this Non-Financial Report.