Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is gaining importance into the world today. Our paper aims to present the key concepts that actuaries and financial professionals could draw from this trend in order to improve their impact and contribution in building sustainable security systems.

The recent financial scandals and crisis highlighted the need for more Ethics. It seems necessary to redefine the concept of Accountability for business actors. It is important, now more than ever, to address the issues of business ethics, corporate governance, environmental concerns and others, in order to create a dynamic context in which firms operate.

Understanding CSR is critical because it represents an attempt to define the future of our society. We view CSR from a stakeholder perspective, taking into account the external environment with many constituents interested to the business results. A key element that made CSR more relevant today than before is the technological innovation with the Internet. Nowadays, people are very sensitive to any change that happens anywhere in the world. The world is really interconnected and interdependent.

Financial Institutions, among others, need to anticipate and address the CSR issues that range from corporate governance and accountability to executive compensation and financial crisis, from environment sustainability and fair trade to microfinance, microinsurance and religion…

In this global challenge, an effective stakeholders’ management could lead to a winning strategy to (re)build a sustainable financial system in the world.