Stakeholder dialogue

We see stakeholder engagement as a two-way dialogue. We engage with stakeholders to create partnerships, invest together, harmonize our approaches, and seek insights to inform our policies. For instance, in October 2022 we published our Position Statement on Impact and ESG for Financial Intermediaries. Throughout the development of the Position Statement, FMO conducted several consultation sessions with stakeholders. The sessions were attended by representatives from NGOs, banks, IFIs, EDFIs, knowledge institutes, and the Dutch Government. In June, FMO engaged with NGOs to discuss policy topics and FMO’s strategy.

In addition, we strongly value the input we receive from various stakeholders on our (proposed) investments. They bring critical perspectives and alert us to different viewpoints, provide us with critical feedback and challenge us to be more transparent and accountable as an organization. Through dialogues we aim to better understand each other’s perspectives and find ways of strengthening our collaboration. As a learning organization, our stakeholder dialogues help us reflect and enhance our risk assessment practices.

Our engagement per stakeholder group

The following table summarizes the topics our stakeholders find most important. Overall, we note that most stakeholders engage with us because of the impact we aim to achieve through our investments.

Stakeholder Group	Material topics	How we engaged in 2022
Employees. All internal employees, including senior management & the Management Board, and external professionals.	• Ensure employee engagement, health & wellbeing • Ensuring higher productivity & efficiency • Being an inclusive organization • Being a responsible, compliant, transparent & accountable bank • Contributing to decent work & economic growth	Management checked in with FMO employees through different means. First, direct reports met frequently through bilateral and team meetings. Second, in November an employee pulse survey was sent out on the Future of Work pilot and to sense-check overall engagement. Third, management met with the works council in formal and informal meetings throughout the year to discuss key matters, including the review of the mobility policy, the effects of inflation, Future of Work pilot and Working Remotely and Abroad policy, several organizational changes and the results of (previous) employee engagement (pulse) surveys. Finally, the MB stayed connected with staff through regular all-staff meetings, open lunches and weekly wrap-up emails.
Customers, incl. corporates, financial institutions, private equity fund managers, and agribusiness and energy project developers.	• Contributing to decent work & economic growth • Reducing inequalities • Taking climate action • Promoting ESG management & value add • Engaging with partners & local communities • Mobilizing private & public capital • Enabling meaningful innovation • Cooperation & harmonization with other DFIs • Ensuring higher productivity & efficiency	We connect with our customers throughout the investment process. In addition to business meetings, we organized topical events and conferences and brought together customers through communities of practice. Throughout 2022, we continued to work with customers to identify opportunities to increase impact. Furthermore, we invited customers to connect with FMO staff during all-staff meetings. In 2022, we carried out our annual customer satisfaction survey to gain insight on what is important to them and how we can improve our products and services in the future.
NGOs & local communities, incl. NGOs that represent environmental and human rights advocates, knowledge centers and banking whistle blowers, as well as local organizations, and communities.	• Being a responsible, transparent & accountable bank • Engaging with partners & local communities • Taking climate action • Promoting ESG management & value add • Supporting customers to safeguard human rights	We continued our dialogue with NGOs. For instance, we met with several NGOs to discuss FMO’s policies (Disclosure Policy and Position Statement on Impact and ESG for FIs) as well as specific investments and community engagement. More intense engagement took place in the form of project specific engagement. NGOs raised questions on proposed investments and FMO engaged in in-depth dialogues to discuss dilemmas attached to one of FMO’s projects. In addition, FMO’s MB also engaged with NGOs, to improve mutual understanding.
Shareholders – FMO is a public-private development bank. The Dutch government is our major shareholder, holding a 51% stake. Other shareholders include large Dutch banks (42%) and employers’ associations, trade unions and individual investors (7%).	• Taking climate action • Mobilizing private & public capital • Contributing to decent work & economic growth • Reducing inequalities • Promoting ESG management & value add	The Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) convenes once every year. However, both the Management and Supervisory Board can request extraordinary meetings (EGM). Shareholders representing at least 5% of FMO's issued capital can also convene a meeting. In 2022, an AGM was held in April and two extraordinary meetings were held in August and November. During the AGM, we presented the key events and results for the 2021 financial year as well as the profit appropriation and dividend for 2021, which were adopted by our shareholders. During the EGMs, we introduced two new MB members and changes to the titles of two existing MB members to complete the extension of the management board from 3 to 5 members.
Dutch Government as majority shareholder. The Dutch Minister of Finance and the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation (part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) are politically responsible for FMO.	• Reducing inequalities • Contributing to decent work & economic growth • Promoting ESG management & value add • Advancing gender equality • Taking climate action • Managing impact	Through its MB and other internal stakeholders, FMO frequently interacts with the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) to discuss strategic policies and FMO’s performance against targets, amongst other topics. There are various forums through which engagement with government takes place, including the Strategic Policy Meeting with the government in which MB participates semi-annually. In 2022, we engaged more frequently with the government due to the development of the 2030 strategy. The focus of these conversations was around FMO’s contributions towards the SDGs and FMO’s progression model, including the need to create more bankable opportunities. Other notable topics discussed in 2022 included: • Progress concerning action items resulting from the FMO-A evaluation; • The review of the Criteria Memorandum; • Topics on which FMO works closely together with government, e.g. the Joint Agenda items (1) ESG & Stakeholder Engagement, (2) Priority Countries incl. Fragile States, and (3) Additionality & Mobilization. In 2022, FMO’s MB also participated in high-level discussions with MoFA and the NGOs SOMO, Both ENDS and Oxfam Novib.
Investors, incl. bond investors, institutional and private investors.	• Being a responsible, compliant, transparent & accountable bank • Mobilizing private & public capital • Promoting ESG management & value add • Taking climate action • Managing impact • Contributing to decent work & economic growth	We offer investors access to our expertise on responsible investing in emerging markets. Institutional and private investors are interested in the risk-return profile of FMO’s investments and the development impact created through them. Therefore, we provide regular financial and impact reports (e.g. FMO’s Sustainability Bond Newsletter), often supplemented with case studies on customers from the relevant portfolios. FMO also frequently engages with its investors through various (annual) investor meetings, events and conferences. In 2022, we attended or spoke at relevant events to actively promote the importance of the role of private capital to achieve the SDGs and how to measure impact. This included events organized by the Global Impact Investor Network, the VBDO, the GSG and the Dutch NAB, as well as the PRI.
Knowledge community, incl. universities, think tanks, experts and independent consultants who conduct development impact evaluations.	• Mobilizing private & public capital • Cooperation & harmonization with other DFIs • Promoting ESG management & value add • Contributing to decent work & economic growth • Reducing inequalities	We regularly organize meetings with the knowledge community for advice on the design of evaluation methodologies, to gather input from key informants and subject matter experts, learn about best practices in the market, receive feedback and discuss the results. In addition, we meet with the knowledge community to define lessons learned. Furthermore, when developing position statements and considering new market developments, we often seek expertise and knowledge outside of FMO.
DFIs, international financial institutions and multilateral banks, with whom we co-invest, harmonize our approaches and share knowledge.	• Contributing to decent work & economic growth • Reducing Inequalities • Taking climate change • Mobilizing private & public capital • Ensuring higher productivity and efficiency	We spoke with DFIs and MDBs about topics such as the consequences of and response to the war in Ukraine, climate, inequality, innovation for private sector mobilization and DFI collaboration. We participated in DFI harmonization working groups with respect to ESG and impact. Alongside other DFIs we continued our participation in the Global Impact Investment Network and the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials. We engaged DFIs and MDBs as relevant stakeholders in our strategy formation process.
Public investment partners incl. the Dutch government, the European Commission, the Green Climate Fund and the UK government.	• Mobilizing private & public capital • Managing impact • Cooperation & harmonization with other DFIs • Being a responsible, compliant transparent & accountable bank	FMO manages several funds on behalf of public entities. In 2022, we engaged with our main partners, either on management of existing funds/facilities or on the development of new funds and facilities. Most notably, FMO handed in several proposals for a guarantee from the ECs European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus guarantee facility.
Supervisor and regulator.	• Maintaining financial sustainability • Ensuring higher productivity and efficiency • Being a responsible, compliant, transparent & accountable bank • Ensuring employee development, engagement, health and wellbeing • Taking climate action	The Dutch Central Bank (DNB) supervises FMO to ensure we comply with banking regulations and manage risks in line with our risk appetite. The main topics discussed in 2022 were around FMO’s follow up on DNB’s recommendations with respect to its financial economic crime (FEC) enhancement project that was completed in 2021. In addition, FMO received a request from DNB to participate in an industry-wide investigation on the effectiveness of its sanctions screening system. Furthermore, DNB monitors the progress FMO is making towards aligning its internal procedures, disclosures, strategy, risk management and governance frameworks with the expectations of the European Central Bank with respect to the prudent management of climate-related risks.