Colombia: The Superintendence of Companies invites companies to participate in sustainability practices

In brief

In the last few days, the Superintendence of Companies (hereinafter “SoC”) has begun to invite various companies under its surveillance and control to participate, on a voluntary basis, in a diagnostic exercise on the implementation of sustainable practices. The above, in accordance with Chapter XV of the Basic Legal Circular of the SoC: "Administrative Recommendations for the Submission of the Sustainability Report" (hereinafter “Chapter XV”).


Contents

The purpose of this exercise proposed by the SoC is to collect, through a form of 87 questions, the relevant information to assess the current status of implementation of sustainable practices in the business sector, as well as to determine the level of preparedness of the surveilled companies to comply with the provisions of the aforementioned Chapter XV. In this way, the information provided by the companies and businessmen in the form will allow the SoC to gather the necessary information to carry out the diagnosis. When filling out the form, the company must provide, among other information focused on the corporate governance, environmental, social, financial and economic areas, the following general information:

1. Basic data of the company.

2. Quality of the company as a certified sustainable entity or validation of its sustainability processes.

3. Whether the company has a sustainability policy and/or program.

4. If the company has a risk matrix that allows the measurement of environmental, social, governance, economic, and financial impacts, and segmentation according to the characteristics of each identified risk

5. If the company has a different mechanism for assessing sustainability risks in the environmental, social, governance, economic, and financial areas, and if the segmentation is performed according to the characteristics of each identified risk.

6. If the company has a process for identifying and mapping its stakeholders.

7. Whether the company produces sustainability reports in which it publicly and transparently discloses its economic, governance, financial, social, and environmental performance, and the frequency with which this report is prepared, submitted, and disclosed.

8. Whether the sustainability report meets the recommendations in Chapter XV and is prepared using an international reporting standard.

9. Whether the company uses any reporting tools or methodologies to support the structuring of its sustainability report.

10. If the company has a person responsible for the development, structuring and review of the sustainability report.

11. If the report prepared is published and disclosed within the company and communicated to the different stakeholders, and if it has been posted on the website for public consultation.

12. Whether a due diligence process has been established within the sustainability policy.

It is important to note that the provisions of Chapter XV are currently a recommendation, but the SoC is working to make the submission of the Sustainability Report mandatory in the near future.

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