Every business division, country of operation and individual who works at Standard Chartered seems to understand that delivering outstanding shareholder value is not possible over the long run without also serving as an engine of growth, prosperity and progress in the countries where the bank operates.
How has Standard Chartered achieved this?
Standard Chartered stands out because of a combination of stakeholder engagement, senior leadership, and adaptive product development.
The group works with a broad network of on-the-ground environmental, social, political and regulatory stakeholders to gather critical intelligence about key risks and opportunities.
The chairman and chief executive work with the corporate responsibility (CR) committee, nine specialised steering committees and each country head to leverage these relationships to gain a competitive, local understanding of key emerging market environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities.
All wholesale lending officers at the bank are specially trained to identify ESG risks in lending considerations. This is not unique. What makes SC stand out is that this training works. Even though it operates in some of the world’s toughest economies, the bank has a remarkable track record of not being blindsided by unanticipated environmental, social or political shocks.
SC manages a $50m microfinance portfolio, a $72m renewable energy portfolio, and is a signatory to the Equator principles. In addition, the bank has taken a leading role
in addressing the economic consequences of the Aids pandemic. Standard Chartered deserves to be this year’s winner because it has set the bar for emerging market CSR. For the bank, CSR is not an optional add-on but an essential driver of outperformance.
Both CSR awards were judged by Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, a research firm specialising in CSR, in association with The Banker.
