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Environmental, Social and Governance Risks Management

Environmental, Social and Governance Risks Management

ESG, Environmental, Social and Governance factors are becoming the new convention in the financial services sector. Banks are integrating ESG sustainability factors into their key functions and activities that are part of risk management, performance strategies, and operational improvement to access new markets.

At BICSA we have an Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS), a methodology designed to address environmental and social issues and integrate sustainability issues into the operations managed by banks and other financial institutions. The system defines a set of policies, guidelines, tools, procedures and systems that facilitate the identification, evaluation, mitigation and monitoring of environmental and social risks generated during the development of a project or economic activity.

Since 2018 Banco Internacional de Costa Rica has been part of the 16 signatories of the Panama Sustainable Finance Protocol, which initiated this new GREEN DNA within our organization. And from 2020 we implemented an Environmental and Social Management System (SIGAS), which evaluates the activities of our customers to verify the socio-environmental risk and mitigation measures of our customers, thus giving a commitment to society and the environment of the region.

According to our methodology, Environmental and Social Risks are classified as follows:

  • Category A (high): All those activities, works or projects that, due to their high complexity or scale, may generate adverse, cumulative and/or synergistic environmental and social impacts of quantitative and/or qualitative significance and that may also be diverse, irreversible and unprecedented.
  • Category B (Medium): Activities, works or projects that may generate adverse environmental and social impacts that are few in number, generally localized to specific sites.
  • Category C (Low): Activities, works or projects that pose minimal or no adverse environmental and social risks and/or impacts.

Security tips

The security of our customers is important, which is why we make the following secuirty tips available to you:

Schedule of Fees

Download the schedule of Fees, effective january1st 2023.

Directors

Fernando Jose Viquez Salazar

President Director

Master of Business Administration from the National University, San Diego, California, United States. He is President and owner operator of Hotel Pumilio S.A.; he was General Manager of Soluciones de Pago MB S.A.; General Manager of Banco de Soluciones BANSOL; Deputy General Manager of Banco de Costa Rica; Director of Products and Marketing of Scotibank of Costa Rica; held positions of Director of Personal Banking – Credit and Collection Manager – Credit Card Manager of Banco Interfin; He was Financial Manager of Banco Banex.

He is currently Vice President of the General Board of Directors of Banco de Costa Rica, Member of the Board of Directors of Operadora de Planes de Pensiones Complementarias S.A., of the BCR and Member of the Board of Directors of BCR Valores Puesto de Bolsa, S.A.

Marvin Arias Aguilar

First Vice-President

Has a degree in Business Administration. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of Banco Popular and Desarrollo Comunal, President of the Board of Directors of Popular Fondo de Inversion, SAFI and has participated in Commissions and Committees of the same bank. He worked 36 years at Banco Nacional, an institution in which he held various positions, standing out as Auditor General, the last position held in the entity. In addition, he was Deputy General Manager, General Accountant, Head of Banking Marketing and Financial Analyst in the Credit Department. He has been characterized by achieving the professionalization and technical training of the Audit staff, as well as promoting the greater growth of the productive asset in the credit portfolio as a basis in the strength of the patrimonial sufficiency.

He is currently President of the General Board of Directors of Banco Nacional de Costa Rica, and Director at CORBANA.

Mahity Flores Flores

Second Vice-President

Graduated in Public Accounting, she worked for more than 12 years in different positions in Correos de Costa Rica, being her last position as Administration and Finance Manager.

She is currently Director of the Board of Directors of Banco de Costa Rica and President of Sociedad Administradora de Fondos de Inversión S.A.; In addition, she is Director of BCR Corredora de Seguros S.A.

Lidia Marjorie Jimenez Varela

Director Secretary

Has a Degree in Economics and a Master in Economics, Banking and Capital Markets. She has completed courses in banking and finance and has extensive experience in these topics. She worked for public banking and regulatory entities inside and outside the country. In addition, she is Director Secretary at BCR Pensión Operadora Planes de Pensiones Complementarias S.A. (subsidiary of Banco de Costa Rica).

Allan Calderon Moya

Director Treasurer

Economist with a Master’s Degree in Economic Analysis and Financial Economics from the Complutense University of Madrid, as well as a Master’s Degree in Economics with emphasis in Banking and Capital Markets from the University of Costa Rica. He has worked for Banco Nacional for 18 years and has developed an outstanding career in the organization, where he has held various positions, standing out as Director of Credit Risks, Director of Market Risks, General Director of Risks, Deputy General Manager of Credit and Risks. In 2020 he occupied the General Management a.i. He currently holds the position of Deputy General Manager of Strategy and Customer Experience.

Gina Carvajal Vega

Director

Degree in Economics from the University of Costa Rica. Specialist in Energy Efficiency (EE) and Renewable Energy (CICR). Development Effectiveness Specialist (IDB). She was Head of Portfolio Development and Banking for Development at BAC Credomatic; Advisor to the Executive Presidency of the National Insurance Institute; Project Manager of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) / Initiative MIPYMES Verdes, Dynamic and change, MIPYME Specialist, BCIE; Director of Programs and Projects of the Development Banking System; and Director of Control and Monitoring of the Development Banking System (SBD).

She is currently Director President of the BCR General Board of Directors. Also, Director of the Board of Directors of the Insurance Broker and Director of the Board of Directors BCR Sociedad Administradora de Fondos de Inversión S.A. SAFI).

Maria Jeannette Ruiz Delgado

Independent Director

Degree in Educational Administration. She held the position of President of the General Board of Directors of Banco Nacional from October 1, 2018 to May 2022. As a director, she was President and Vice President of the Board of Directors of BN Corredora de Seguros, S. A. She held the Presidency and Vice Presidency on the Board of Directors of BN Vital, OPC, S. A. She was a member of the Corporate Risk Committee; Compensation, Nominating and Governance Committee, participated in the Corporate Audit Committee, Corporate Compliance Committee and Corporate Information Technology Committee. She is part of the Board of Directors of the Integral Program of Agricultural Marketing (PIMA). He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Latin American Association of Financial Institutions for Development (ALIDE). She promoted the corporate governance management of the Banco Nacional to have objective parameters that allow evaluating the collegiate bodies, in search of the best practices, transparency, accountability and assist in decisions made with responsibility and equitable treatment. Another position held is that of Deputy of the Republic in the period 2010-2014. She was head of a delegation of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica to the OECD and the European Parliament. Owner Councillor of the Municipal Council of Alajuela.

Executives

Daniel González

Chief Executive Officer / CEO

Federico Nieto

Chief Information Officer / CIO

Julio Justiniano

Representative Office General Manager Miami

Zulema Morales

Operations Manager

Adolfo Camacho

Compliance Manager

David Rincón

Chief Financial Officer / CFO

María Mora

Planning and Administration Manager

Diana Cerrud

Risk Manager

Paola Ciniglio

Chief Legal Officer / CLO

Marian Pariente

Credit Manager

Cristina Lachman

Private Banking Regional Manager

Ingrid José

BICSA Factoring Manager

Jorge Porras

Manager BICSA Fiduciaria Costa Rica

Ricardo Bell

General Comptroller

Omar Moreno

Chief Corporate Auditor

Guillermo Clark

Panama Country Manager

Randall Monge

Business Regional Manager

Ricardo Pacheco

Client Services Manager Costa Rica

Oscar Servando

Representative Office Manager El Salvador

Christian Sommerhalder

Representative Office Manager Mexico

Guillermo González

Representative Office Manager Guatemala

Raipza Castillo

Business Development Manager Panama

Armando Gallardo

Credit Card Manager

Christian Rodriguez

Manager BICSA Leasing Costa Rica

Compliance Form

Compliance Form

Operational Risk Management

Management objectives

The Bank, following the regulatory guidelines and best practices, has defined a Comprehensive Risk Management System, whose main objective is to promote a healthy and safe banking environment.

The function of Operational Risk is to guarantee the adequate administration of this risk, to achieve its understanding, to identify the operative risks present in the activities of the organization, to reinforce controls, to reduce the number of incidents or events, and to minimize monetary losses.

Methodology and management framework:

The Corporate Risk Management has defined a methodology and an operational risk management framework that allows carrying out the identification, measurement, mitigation, monitoring, control and information of said risk in order to minimize the levels of losses due to this. All bank staff must apply this methodology and is responsible for the proper management of operational risks associated with their areas and activities.

This methodology and management framework are fully detailed in the Operational Risk Manual, which has been approved by the Risk Directive Committee and BICSA Board of Directors.
The methodology consists mainly of the following stages:

  • Identification: The risks or threats inherent in the banks processes and products and can cause losses are identified.
  • Measurements: The identified risks are measured based on the impact and probability of inherent and residual occurrence. Also, the collection of events and incidents of operational risk is carried out.
  • Mitigation: Definition and implementation of action plans (for cases in which risks exceed an acceptance limit).
  • Monitoring and control:Follow-up on the defined action plans for the mitigation of the identified or occurred risks, as well as the corresponding follow-up on the key risk indicators (KRI). Also, as part of this stage, tests of the effectiveness of controls are carried out.
  • Information: Periodic reports are generated and presented on the result of the management carried out and the level of operational risk to which the Bank is exposed.

The management framework to guide the objectives and essential components of operational risk management are composed as detailed below:

Phase 1 – Culture

Stage in which all the staff of the organization is made aware of the importance of Operational Risk management through periodic training.

Phase 2 – Qualitative Management

Stage in which the organizational structure, policies, identification of risks and prioritization of responses, development of indicators, self-assessments and evaluation of Operational Risks in the Bank’s new initiatives, products and / or services and significant improvements to these are defined.

Phase 3 – Quantitative Management

Stage in which the data capture and maintenance, collection of losses, calculating the capital requirement for operational risk, internal model validation and risk prevention of management information occurs.

Main Achievements

Since the implementation of the operational risk management in the bank, the main achievements obtained can be listed below:

  • Strengthening the culture of operational risk based on continuous training of employees that allows them to understand and assimilate the importance of this concept from each of their work areas.>
  • The satisfactory implementation of an organizational structure for the management of Operational Risk that includes, among others:
    • An Operational Risk Department that reports to the Corporate Risk Management and this one to the Risk Directive Committee.
    • The existence of an Operational Risk Administrator, in each of the bank’s work areas, who is responsible for recording the events and incidents that occur in the department. Additionally, this collaborator proactively identifies measures and monitors the risks exposure of the area.
    • Functional Managers and Process Owners are responsible for creating and promoting a culture of Operational Risk Management within their area of responsibility, perform operational risk self-assessments in their processes and when applicable, develop action plans to mitigate them and ensure that business strategies and objectives are met.
    • The alignment of BICSA’s subsidiaries under a single Operational Risk Management model.
  • A robust database compilation of events and incidents for operational risk, classified by type of loss and business lines of the organization as defined by Agreement 011-2018 of the Superintendence of Banks of Panama.
  • The strengthening of control processes and activities in the bank’s operations for the prevention of risks, prioritizing and classifying the defined processes, in order to apply a methodological approach according to the level of risk of each process based on the cost-benefit ratio of the time and resources involved in applying different methodologies in relation to the impact on the Bank.
  • Perform management and minimization of operational risk that allows maintaining low levels of monetary losses due to operational risk over the years.
  • Include in the business management the process of identifying operational risks prior to the launch of a new product, service or activity offered by the entity.
  • The identification and monitoring of improvement opportunities, resulting from the various reviews and evaluations that are part of the Operational Risk Management, in conjunction with the Process Management Department and other areas through Process Improvement Circles.
  • Implementation and monitoring of key risk indicators (KRIs) and other process management metrics.
  • The incorporation of Business Continuity Management as an integral part of the Operational Risk Management.
  • The implementation of the Model Internal Validation Methodology in the Bank. 

Management results

At BICSA, the operational risk management is supported by the identification of risks or threats, which are identified through self-assessments, and the events and incidents monitoring. As of December 31, 2022, the following can be observed:

Threat distribution detected by type of risk:

Events and incidents distribution by type of risk:

Exposure:

Frequency:

 

Severity:

Operational risk capital requirements

Banco Internacional de Costa Rica, S.A. calculates the Operational risk capital requirements in accordance with the provisions of Chapter VI of Rule N° 11-2018 of the Superintendency of Banks of Panama. The minimum operational risk capital requirements are determined by multiplying the operational risk-weighted assets established above by the capital coefficient for the due date.

Results as of December 31, 2022:

Entity

Operational risk-weighted assets

Operational risk capital requirements

BICSA Panamá

33,9

3,19

BICSA and subsidiaries

44,2

3,53

(In millions of dollars)