2025-12-03
The Banco Nacional de Angola issued Circular Letter No. 02/2025 to mandate supervised financial institutions to systematically identify, categorize, and integrate socio-environmental risks into their governance frameworks and risk management models. The directive requires institutions to establish transparent oversight structures, implement a three-lines-of-defense model, and apply double materiality assessments across financial products, client portfolios, and economic sectors. Furthermore, it obligates institutions to define priority Sustainable Development Goals, track key performance indicators, and align long-term financial performance with sustainability targets through continuous monitoring and targeted training programs.
CIRCULAR LETTER NO. 02/2025 SUBJECT: FINANCIAL SYSTEM
Cândido Abrantes Pina -Director-
CONTINUATION OF CIRCULAR LETTER NO. 02/2025 Page 2 of 7 ANNEX IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE FOR PRINCIPLE II – IDENTIFYING AND INCORPORATING SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS INTO THE GOVERNANCE AND RISK MANAGEMENT MODEL
CONTINUATION OF CIRCULAR LETTER NO. 02/2025 Page 3 of 7 Three Lines of Defense Model and Socio-Environmental Risks 1.15. Institutions must adopt a robust governance structure, based on the three lines of defense model, ensuring that responsibilities for managing climate and environmental risks are clearly and effectively distributed across different organizational levels: 1.15.1. First Line of Defense: business units (operational managers) are responsible for identifying, managing, and mitigating socio-environmental risks directly in daily operations, ensuring that risks are adequately monitored and sustainability policies are applied in their decisions and activities. 1.15.2. Second Line of Defense: internal control functions, such as Compliance and Risk Management Departments (DRC), supervise and provide guidance on compliance with socio-environmental risk management policies, ensuring that practices adopted by the first line are consistent with internal standards, external regulations, and international best practices. 1.15.3. Third Line of Defense: internal audit must conduct an independent assessment of the effectiveness of the governance system and risk management process, monitoring first- and second-line practices to ensure that socio-environmental risks are adequately addressed and institutional policies are well implemented. 2. RISK MANAGEMENT Identification and Categorization of Socio-Environmental Risks 2.1. To identify and categorize socio-environmental risks in Institutions, it is necessary to develop a risk matrix that allows evaluating the potential impact of these risks on the Institution's activities, following these phases: 2.1.1. Identification of Socio-Environmental Risks: The Institution must conduct a comprehensive analysis to identify the different socio-environmental risks to which its business portfolio is exposed, including risks related to climate change, environmental degradation, human rights violations, negative impacts on local communities, and Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) issues. 2.1.2. Risk Categorization: following identification, risks must be categorized according to their type (environmental, social, and governance) and the client's sector of operation (e.g., agriculture, mining, and energy). 2.1.3. Risk Matrix Construction: building a risk matrix helps classify these risks based on two main criteria: probability of occurrence and severity of impact. The matrix may have quadrants ranging from low to high risk, facilitating the prioritization of risks requiring closer attention and immediate action. 2.1.4. Exposure Level Assessment: following categorization, the Institution must assess its exposure level to risks, including an analysis of how financial activities (such as lending, investment, or insurance) may be affected by socio-environmental factors and what the potential financial impacts are. 2.1.5. Monitoring: the risk matrix must be continuously monitored and updated to reflect changes in client business or the socio-environmental context. Risk Exposure Assessment 2.2. In assessing the Exposure Level of products, services, and clients to socio-environmental risks, Institutions must consider the nature and characteristics of the offered products and services, as well as activity sectors and client profiles, involving: 2.2.1. Economic Sector Classification: evaluating portfolio exposure to more vulnerable sectors such as Oil and Gas, Agriculture, Energy, Transport, and Construction. 2.2.2. Geographical Assessment: identifying regions where clients operate and may be subject to extreme events (floods, droughts, storms, landslides, etc.). 2.2.3. Nature of Financial Products: considering risk in long-term products (e.g., mortgage credit or infrastructure financing) that may be more affected by climate events over time. 2.2.4. Concentration Analysis: identifying whether there is significant concentration in sectors or geographies with high risk, such as regions with a history of drought, floods, wildfires, etc. 2.2.5. Client Segmentation: evaluating whether corporate clients have sustainability policies or depend on vulnerable value chains (e.g., an institution with high exposure to agricultural credit in water-scarce regions must consider prolonged drought scenarios and their impacts). 2.3. Institutions must apply the concept of double materiality, which considers two analysis vectors: 2.3.1. Financial Materiality: evaluates the impact of climate risks on the Institution's financial performance (e.g., losses in assets exposed to physical risks, depreciation of collateral, decline in demand for certain services). 2.3.2. Impact Materiality: evaluates the impact of the Institution's activities on climate and the environment (e.g., financing greenhouse gas-emitting projects, deforestation).