Concilium Consulting establishes an ESG division and recruits the international expert Bogdan Pletea to lead the new department

Concilium Consulting, company specialized in sustainable business restructuring, announces the consolidation of its portfolio of services and management team by recruiting Bogdan Pletea, a professional with over 20 years of experience in consulting and risk management in the UK, Spain and Romania. He will lead the company’s new ESG division, Climate Risk & Strategy, consisting of senior specialists with expertise in management and financial consultancy.

“Co-opting the most experienced market specialists is vital now when all creditors consider the corporate social, environmental and governance indicators. Bank financing is already a priority for businesses that meet the new ESG requirements. Non-reimbursable funds will follow: the companies that apply, especially for NRRP, will not receive the amounts without scoring these criteria,” declared Vlad Năstase, CEO Concilium Consulting.

The new division will offer the companies in the banking, insurance, retail, automobile, constructions, transport and logistics, electricity and oil industry field, integrated credit policy review solutions, assessment of ESG indicators and related risks, tools for the improvement of the ESG rating and trainings for the top management positions. Furthermore, the services are also addressed to private equity investors, that will benefit from counselling in the positioning strategies and ESG due-diligence in procurement processes. The strategic alliance of the consultancy company with the law firm NNDKP also facilitates the coverage of issues that require legal assistance in terms of business alignment with the new sustainability indicators.

The most exposed companies, from the point of view of the new corporate and sustainable governance requirements, are those ones in the banking and insurance industry. Next year, the European Central Bank will measure the impact of climate change over the banks in the Euro area, what means that these institutions must include a detailed analysis of environmental risks in the management strategy. More than 90% of the banks have already integrated sustainability as a strategic priority for the organization and established ESG impact analysis systems, a recent study of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) shows. The analysis and communication of the ESG factors impact are vital to market discipline, allowing the stakeholders to assess the environmental risks of the banks and their long-lasting financing strategy.

Among the companies on which ESG will have a major impact are the listed companies, as well as those in aviation, transportation and the oil industry, which will have to adopt a rapid transition to “green” business models and sustainable behavior.

Bogdan Pletea, ESG Risk & Sustainability Strategy Lead: “My goal, together with the Concilium team and the specialists within NNDKP is to help the companies that do not integrate ESG factors into their development strategy to reduce the risks to which they are exposed. For example, in banking, these requirements can affect the performance, efficiency and default indicators for the loan portfolios, in addition to regulatory risks, higher capital and refinancing costs. The managers who understand the importance of real preoccupation towards social and environmental responsibility will adopt a more sustainable business model, that will create stability and additional growth potential both for investors and for their employees and customers.”

Year 2022 will be a milestone in terms of the requirements, expectations and ESG regulations of the European Central Bank and of the European Banking Authority. All these must be implemented by all Romanian banks that fall under the supervision target, a process that will be monitored by the Romanian National Bank and the Financial Supervisory Authority.

Bogdan Pletea comes to lead the ESG division within Concilium Consulting with solid expertise in management consulting, risk management and strategy, gathered in more than 20 years of international experience in companies such as OMV Petrom, TUI Group, Hotelbeds Group Spain and in fields such as electricity, tourism, insurance and banking system. He is certified member of the Institute of Risk Management (IRM) of London, he holds an international diploma in Risk Management and graduated an MBA program from the International Institute of Management of Paris. At the same time, he is the Vice-president of Climate Change Special Interest Group (SIG) of IRM London, organization that published in September the first climate risk management guide meant to support risk managers in all industries. Bogdan Pletea will continue, in parallel, the collaboration with consulting companies from London and Amsterdam.