This is the thirteenth year in which Bank Hapoalim has released a Corporate Responsibility Report for its stakeholders, demonstrating the bank's continuing dedication to corporate responsibility over the course of many years. 

As a leading financial organization, we have a significant financial, social, and environmental impact on the Israeli economy. This impact creates the commitment to ensure that as an integral part of the operation of our business, our actions promote social and environmental values to the benefit of our customers and all of our stakeholders. We have set ourselves key goals focused on financial education, growth of small businesses, promotion of social mobility and employment in peripheral regions, empowerment of people with disabilities, and digital literacy for senior citizens.  

In 2019, we continued to create business opportunities while promoting social and environmental benefits for the good of the community in Israel. These activities contribute to progress on a substantial number of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as reflected in our Corporate Responsibility Report. Concurrently, over the last year, we promoted responsible investment at the bank, in view of the growing awareness of this area around the world and among investors in Israel. For the first time in the banking system in Israel, we added ESG ratings of global equities to our customer advisory systems; we also developed social-financial deposits to allow our customers to take part in the advancement of social and environmental causes. We accord high importance to responsible investment, and we will continue to pursue progress in this area in the coming years. 

While this report summarizes the activities of the bank in 2019, in view of the coronavirus crisis, we have also chosen to include actions initiated by the bank for its stakeholders in order to stand by them during this challenging period, in recognition of the fact that the bank’s commitment to action rooted in corporate social responsibility is especially significant during a crisis.

The recognition earned by the social action of Bank Hapoalim is reflected in its top rankings in corporate responsibility, in Israel and internationally. Bank Hapoalim holds the highest rating on the Israeli index Ma’ala (Platinum +), and is ranked in the top decile of the international corporate responsibility index for the banking sector.