Voluntary sustainability reporting in small German banks: exploring the applicability of the VSME standard

Diplôme Master Voluntary sustainability reporting in small German banks: exploring the applicability of the VSME standard eng 2026-09-01 author Binder De Serdio Malena Isabel 410676 director Mele Valentina 701792 Service enseignement, recherche, administratif et technique (SdS) (SCSPS) 66 <p>The Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for non-listed SMEs (VSME) has be-come the European Union's main voluntary sustainability reporting framework for un-dertakings outside of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) scope. While the standard was designed to be applicable across all sectors, little research has examined its suitability for financial institutions. This study explores the extent to which the VSME provides a suitable sustainability reporting framework for small German sav-ings and cooperative banks. A qualitative research design combining a structured docu-mentary analysis of the VSME combined with three expert interviews is used to evaluate the standard against the criteria of sectoral relevance, reporting feasibility, and stake-holder utility. The findings indicate that the VSME provides a generally suitable and proportionate framework for small German banks, particularly regarding reporting bur-den and practical implementation. However, its cross-sectoral design only partially re-flects the distinctive sustainability profile of financial intermediaries, whose most signif-icant impacts arise through financing activities rather than their own operations. As a result, the standard presents a trade-off between simplicity and sector-specific relevance. The study concludes that the VSME represents a useful foundation for voluntary sus-tainability reporting by small German banks, while highlighting the importance of sector-specific guidance to improve the meaningfulness of disclosures.</p> Dewey 301 SACHA 197 Institut de recherches sociologiques TG 122 Département de sociologie T4 false 7f0bf04b-36d8-4d01-853e-b6cf9f0589cd Sustainable societies and social change adc455f4-0296-462d-8d1c-10e05925be83 Master thesis Public MasterThesis_BinderDeSerdio_Archive.pdf 2827320 application/pdf 8b51bf1bac6cad0d2feaab02c70e72e442a2710a977655c1b895e6148d8380b1 openAccess Faculté des sciences de la société / Institut de recherches sociologiques Faculté des sciences de la société / Département de sociologie

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Voluntary sustainability reporting in small German banks: exploring the applicability of the VSME standard				2026	1	0

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Binder De Serdio, Malena Isabel