The 2020 Initiatives

In particular, the fundraising launched among employees during the year reached the sum of 53,179 Euros, which the group doubled to 106,358 Euros. To this figure were added the funds donated by senior managers, amounting to 118,000 Euros. The first part of these funds, raised in March, went in favour of the Degli Infermi Hospital of Biella, while the sum for April was donated to the Amedeo of Savoy hospital in Turin, the Luigi Sacco Hospital of Milan and the Cardinal Panico hospital of Tricase in the province of Lecce, as well as to the following associations: Caritas Association of Biella, Opera San Francesco, Pane Quotidiano and the Fondazione Francesca Rava of Milan. Other funds donated by the Group companies went in support of the Crisis Unit of the Piedmont region, which is in its turn raising funds for all the hospitals in the region. Funds went also to the Buzzi Foundation and the Fatebenefratelli Sacco hospital in Milan, the Regina Montis Regalis hospital in Mondovì, the Domenico Cotugno hospital of Naples as well as the San Giovanni di Dio and the Ruggi d'Aragona hospitals of Salerno.

The action of our Group in favour of organizations and health structures committed to tackling the Coronavirus emergency continued throughout 2020. Our Group, for example, supported the fundraising of the Nova association: the network of students and alumni of the Master courses in Business Administration of the best schools in the world, in favour of the Buzzi Foundation in Milan, which received over 100,000 Euros. These funds supported: the purchase of equipment for the intensive care unit of the Buzzi Children's Hospital in Milan and the treatment of patients from the Sacco hospital and other facilities in Lombardy involved in the COVID-19 emergency.

Thanks to a contribution of 36,000 euros, in March 2020, Sella Leasing donated a lung function diagnostic device to the intensive care department of the Biella Hospital. It is a device used by doctors and nurses in intensive care to cope with the several ailments and various lung diseases that the hospital ward has to deal with every day.

Banca Patrimoni Sella & C. and the Local Health Authority of the City of Turin inaugurated, in May 2020, the "Un Quadro Al Mese" ("A painting a month") project within the OGR Covid Hospital, the health facility set up in the premises of the Officine Grandi Riparazioni following the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The project, managed by Daniela Magnetti, Artistic Director of Banca Patrimoni Sella &C., envisaged dedicating a space to the temporary exhibition of a work of art for the benefit of healthcare staff. The idea of the project comes from the assumption that art positively impacts the mental and physical well-being of both carers and patients as it can relieve, even for a few moments, the emotional tension that is daily gripping Doctors, Nurses and healthcare professionals. The initiative is part of the broader perspective of protection and enhancement of the artistic heritage and culture of the legacy value of art in which the Bank firmly believes. The first work on display was "Chiara pace" by Carlo Fornara in 1903.

The priority during the Coronavirus emergency was that to protect the health of customers and employees. For this reason, the Group adopted many initiatives, which made it possible to ensure maximum safety in carrying out all activities. Following are some of the most significant among those undertaken. The first decision immediately taken concerned the adoption of remote working wherever possible: in a few days, the remotely connected colleagues went from 200 to 3500. Besides, Sella bought 800 laptops and over 4600 accessories to provide free of charge improvement of their workstations. More than 3200 Plexiglas panels underwent installation at customer and office contact points. More than 23,000 litres of disinfectant and more than 200,000 masks were purchased and distributed. The Group was among the first in Italy to allow all its employees to voluntarily undergo free serological testing (reaching more than 3500 carried out tests). Besides, more than 600 COVID swabs and more than 750 flu vaccines were carried out, and a support structure was activated on a 7x7 h24 shift for colleagues affected with Covid problems. A health insurance policy covering Covid's cases was also activated free of charge for all colleagues.

In a particular year, which dramatically affected many of our habits, in calling us all to face new complexities, which on their turn, often required an extra dose of energy, to deal with stress and be able to master new opportunities, the Group launched Wellbeing: a training course dedicated to physical and mental wellness. "Wellbeing" consisted of self-managed learning sessions and webinars designed to:

• deepening the knowledge on how the mind works in conditions of alertness and stress in the light of the most recent neuroscientific evidence
• Acquiring attention-enhancing techniques and practices to develop balance and wellness
• Identifying and testing healthy behaviours and new routines to fuel energy and reduce stress

The course was held in April for four weeks and involved a daily commitment of about 20 minutes plus participation in two webinars of two hours each and active presence in an ad hoc community.

Smartika's initiatives to effectively support families continued in May through the reimbursement of 50% of commissions at the end of the amortization plan on loans up to euro 2,000 suggested for the purchase of computers dedicated to Smart working in addition to 100% repayment of commissions at the end of the amortization plan on loans up to euro 15,000 to nurses, on the occasion of International Nurses' Day (which falls on 12 May). Furthermore, the peer to peer lending company of the Group joined "Milano Aiuta": an initiative of the Municipality of Milan and namely a register of volunteers, companies and members of the private social sector providing effective help to citizens.

The effects of the pandemic had strong impacts. Among the many emergencies that most need intervention, there are undoubtedly schools, for the new needs related to distance learning, for support for children with frailties, for the training of teachers. In this context, social differences have become even more acute and the opportunities to access education for the most vulnerable families with fewer resources were reduced. The crowdfunding campaign "Guardiamo al Futuro" - active from November to mid-January, involved in the spirit of the initiative also customers, external partners, acquaintances. Including the donation of 15 thousand Euros from Banca Sella, the total collection amount exceeded 22 thousand euros.

The Axerve 3 months free POS Easy initiative without commissions, has been extended until 30 June 2021. The initiative is part of the Government's Digital Solidarity program, aimed at helping the Italian small business amid the 2020 crisis. The project promoted by the Government for digital transformation, since the first phase of the pandemic, has put merchants in contact with companies willing to provide digital services free of charge. The offer from Axerve included 6 months of free POS fee.

A training course began on 5 October, which involved the first 100 colleagues of Banca Sella and Banca Patrimoni aims at raising awareness among participants on ESG issues and the strategic role of sustainable and responsible investments, allowing them to acquire full mastery of the related terms and contents. The course is held by university professors and industry professionals, experts in sustainable finance, national and international asset management, exponents of ESG rating companies and the private banking industry. Through this initiative, in line with the attention that our Group has always paid to issues related to sustainability, we have placed a primary education element to increase skills on sustainable finance issues and on ESG factors that are increasingly at the centre of the interest of investors' sensitivity.

Il 5 ottobre è iniziato un percorso formativo, che ha coinvolto i primi 100 colleghi di Banca Sella e Banca Patrimoni e che ha l'obiettivo di sensibilizzare i partecipanti sulle tematiche ESG e sul ruolo strategico degli investimenti sostenibili e responsabili, permettendo loro di acquisirne una piena padronanza. Il corso è tenuto da docenti universitari e da professionisti del settore, esperti di finanza sostenibile, di asset management nazionali e internazionali, da esponenti di società di Rating ESG e dell'industria del private banking. Attraverso quest'iniziativa, poniamo un importante tassello formativo per accrescere le nostre competenze sui temi della finanza sostenibile e sui fattori ESG sempre più al centro dell'interesse e della sensibilità degli investitori.

Banca Sella has activated measures to support families and businesses that suffered damages due to the violent atmospheric events that hit the North West regions in early October 2020 to be alongside the territories and promote restoration. In particular, a ceiling of 20 million euros was set aside for the granting of loans at particularly favourable economic conditions for families and companies that suffered damage to movable and immovable properties. It is also possible to request, as a measure of further support and flexibility, in a context already marked by the ongoing health emergency, a pre-amortization for a maximum duration of 12 months. Finally, Banca Sella does not apply bank transfer commissions to current accounts intended to collect donations for reconstructing areas affected by bad weather.

(In January 2020) Banca Sella, Banca Patrimoni & C. and Sella Personal Credit subscribed to a Memorandum, signed by the Italian Banking Association, ABI, and trade union organizations. According to the Memorandum of understanding, women included in the special "protection paths" may request, without being subject to commissions or interest on arrears, the suspension of the payment of the principal amount of the mortgage loan instalments or credit to consumers with repayment by instalments, for the duration of the "protection path" and in any case no later than 18 months. Moreover, for many years on Women's Day, the Group has been helping local associations with a donation for women victims of violence. In 2020, Sella decided to support PAVIOL Antiviolenza O.N.L.U.S.: an association that offers psychological, social, educational support to direct and indirect victims of violence and namely individuals, adults and children.

It is an initiative inspired by our values of solidarity and personal care, which allows a better harmonization of lifetimes by giving a little help to colleagues who find themselves in difficulty at certain times of their lives. The Banca del Tempo fund may be used by all colleagues facing serious and documented personal or family situations and who have already exhausted all the holidays and work permits due during the year. A maximum limit of 10 days applies. Applications are guaranteed by anonymity. Companies of our Group will increase the hours of the Banca Del Tempo fund by adding a 10% fee to what is donated by colleagues.

«Big Picture» is a non-state and non-parity school based on an educational approach that places the student at the centre of the school path, to create adults aware and responsible for their future. For the above, a network of educators, class, parents, teachers and a mentor takes care of the student. There is no bell ringing, and there are no marks. This structure allows working both at an educational level, giving the students a powerful and personalized study method, and on skills to be included in their CV. All this is vital not only in the employment world but also in the development of their personality.

The ILS strictly online training aimed at providing the essential notions related to the condition of deafness and the linguistic structure of the language of signs. The participants showed great enthusiasm and active participation, recognizing this as an almost exclusive tool allowing for the true integration of deaf people with the hearing world.

SMART: thanks to leasing, companies have a flexible and efficient tool ideal for a quick restart.
GREEN: officially indicated by the EU as a business model to encourage the affirmation of the Green Deal, leasing is the tool that is best linked to the concepts of circular economy and sustainability, shifting the focus from owning the asset to its reuse.
DIGITAL: for several years, leasing has been beneficial for companies of the Italian productive woven, in their process of technological transformation oriented towards the concept of industry 4.0. Smart, green and digital are closely in line with targets of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which our Group has joined.