Deutsche Bank part of major initiative aimed at creating a common basis for sustainability to be accepted by capital markets

The initiative aims at transforming the way companies are valued

(PRESS RELEASE) FRANKFURT AM MAIN, 22-Aug-2019 — /EuropaWire/ — Deutsche Bank has announced it is joining the value balancing alliance e.V.. Established as a non-profit organization the alliance was founded in 2019 by eight international companies. The value balancing alliance has the following big companies as its members Deutsche Bank, BASF, Bosch, LafargeHolcim, Novartis, Philip Morris International, SAP and SK while the initiative will be supported by the Big 4 accounting firms KPMG, PWC, Deloitte and EY.

Deutsche Bank is the founding member of the value balancing alliance along with Bosch and SAP and it is supported by the four largest global accounting firms.

The alliance will be dedicated to establishing a standard for measuring and disclosing the total value companies provide to society, to change business steering and accounting. The alliance’s objective will be to change the way the market looks at, measures and values company performance and total value.

The alliance will be closely collaborating with academics and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) with the aim of getting the accounting standards reformed while creating a blueprint for companies to publish a transparent Integrated Profit and Loss account. This will be an extension of the traditional Profit & Loss account and will integrate the positive or negative value a company has created for its stakeholders and society.

As of today, many large companies and multinationals are already integrating and reporting certain non-financial factors into their accounts. The value balancing alliance, based in Frankfurt, will work on getting this reporting standardised creating easily comparable methodology.

Deutsche Bank’s CEO Christian Sewing and Berthold Fürst, Co-Head Corporate Finance for the German-speaking regions are sponsoring the initiative.

Commenting on the value balancing alliance, Berthold Fürst, said:

“Capital markets still rate companies predominantly on the basis of traditional financial data. But sustainable entrepreneurship, which captures the value proposition of an economic activity not only from the point of view of the classic income statement, is increasing – both on capital markets and in the capital allocation decisions of the companies themselves. It is up to us to develop a common basis so that sustainability is accepted by capital markets and becomes the standard. This approach makes companies more transparent and comparable – for all stakeholders.”

He added further:

„Every day, we face growing economic, technological and social challenges so it is essential to anticipate how these will impact us and our clients – and to act accordingly.“

Deutsche Bank’s Group Sustainability will be providing input and advice to the initiative and lead an internal pilot programme.

When we look into the situation today, international companies still rely on and use accounting principles and concepts codified before the 1970s, when things like globalisation, digitalisation and artificial intelligence were in their infancy. When we put into the mix the environmental and social challenges, the circumstances facing companies have changed radically.

As businesses are with vital role in enabling sustainable development and inclusive value creation, Deutsche Bank believes this holistic view should be reflected in assessing a company’s value.

To reach out to Deutsche Bank AG’s Group Sustainability please email at
mailbox.sustainability@db.com.

The value balancing alliance members: