Standard Chartered Launches Sustainability Review

The annual review details how the bank has delivered against its sustainability priorities: contributing to sustainable economic growth, being a responsible company and investing in communities.

In 2013, Standard Chartered contributed to sustainable economic growth across its markets by promoting and extending access to financial services, and sharing its expertise. Some highlights of its work in these areas include:

– Providing US$20.6bn of financing to small and medium-sized enterprises across 32 markets

– Pledging to increase financing to SMEs by 45% to US$30bn between 2013-2018 as part of its commitments at the   Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)

– Under the Standard Chartered Saadiq brand, the bank expanded its Islamic banking services into Africa and increased its lending globally to US$20bn

– Providing US$774m of project financing to support the power sector

– Pledging to finance US$2bn in power projects by 2018, as part of the Power Africa initiative led by the US government to promote access to electricity across Sub-Saharan Africa

– Offered more than 30 workshops to central banks and ministries of finance on topics such as the internationalisation of the renminbi, Islamic finance, debt capital markets and the use of derivatives to manage financial risk

– Worked closely with the communities in which it operates to promote sustainable development through a number of community investment programmes.

Peter Sands, Group Chief Executive at Standard Chartered PLC, said: “Our strategy is to bank the people and companies driving investment, trade and the creation of wealth across Asia Africa and the Middle East. We are committed to supporting our clients and customers, creating value for our shareholders and making a broader social and economic contribution to the markets where we operate.”