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Our objectives
To maintain and uphold high standards of corporate governance by adopting ESG governance policy and risk management policy to be in line with international and local corporate governance best practices for achieving sustainable governance.
Key figures
Obtained 2 grand awards in Best ESG Report (Large-cap) and Best GRI Report in Hong Kong ESG Reporting Awards
Obtained “Excellence Award in ESG Reporting” of Hong Kong Management Association Best Annual Reports Awards
Received Carbon Neutrality Partners Certificate from Environment Bureau to recognise our efforts in decarbonising
Recognised by Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Index as constituent member and obtained the highest score in assessment among 50 financial institutions
Highlights
Our ESG governance
We have established a high-level ESG Steering Committee, chaired by our Vice-chairman and Chief Executive, and reporting to the Executive Committee and the Board. The Steering Committee is supported by four Working Groups (ESG Strategy, Environmental, Corporate Social Responsibility and ESG Disclosure), each led by a member of the Bank’s Executive Committee. We have also set up a dedicated ESG Department to manage ESG issues from a bank-wide strategic perspective.
For details of our corporate governance, please visit our corporate governance page.
Board Statement
The Bank places great importance on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) matters and this importance continues to grow. The Board takes overall responsibility for ESG matters and their integration into the Bank’s strategies. It guides the management and monitoring of ESG matters that have been identified as relevant to the Bank by the Executive Committee on the recommendation of the newly-formed ESG Steering Committee.
The Board expects the Management to provide ESG updates to the Board at least twice a year. In 2021, the Board will review and deliberate on the Bank’s ESG strategies and key performance indicators as well as ESG report for 2020.
The Board set up the ESG Steering Committee in 2020. Reporting to the Executive Committee and to the Board, the ESG Steering Committee drives the Bank’s ESG strategy and relevant matters. It is supported by four working groups: ESG Strategy, Environmental, Corporate Social Responsibility and ESG Disclosure Working Groups.
ESG matters that the Bank’s stakeholders rate as priorities are tracked through the annual stakeholder engagement exercise. The outcomes of the exercise are incorporated into the Bank’s ESG strategies and programmes. The last exercise was undertaken in the third quarter of 2020 and the Board noted that the Executive Committee reviewed and endorsed the results in November 2020.
ESG policies
To uphold high standards of corporate governance, we implement various ESG policies in our daily operations and financing.
In addition, we observe the following parent company's policies:
Progress update
3rd quarter of 2021:
- Recognised by MSCI Pacific ex Japan SRI Index as constituent member and obtained rating above industry average
2nd quarter of 2021:
- 2020 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report was published
- Ranked in the CUHK Business School Business Sustainability Index (Improved ranking compared with last year):
- Greater Bay Area Business Sustainability Index: 4th
- Hong Kong Business Sustainability Index: 5th
- Greater China Business Sustainability Index: 6th
- Awarded with the InnoESG Prize for the first time (co-organised by the UNESCO and the SocietyNext Foundation)
- Launched our new ESG webpage
1st quarter of 2021:
- Recognised by FTSE4Good Index Series as constituent member and being rated above industry average
- Recognised by Equileap as the top 100 gender-equal companies around the world