The Hong Kong branch of Cathay United Bank (CUB) [2882:TT] and the Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency (HKQAA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to deepen their collaboration in sustainable and green financial services, as reported by Yahoo News on June 19. As an international certification body for green finance and sustainability-linked loans (SLL), HKQAA will help ensure CUB’s sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs), SLLs, and other green finance products meet international standards. The two parties also intend to help bank customers develop suitable environmental, social, and governance (ESG) financing solutions.

CUB is one of the largest commercial banks in Taiwan and a signatory of the RE100 initiative whose members commit to using 100% renewable electricity. This April, the bank undertook the SLL for Taiwan’s semiconductor packaging material provider Siliconware Precision Industries [SPIL:US]. In the future, CUB plans to review borrowers’ ESG indexes such as greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), water management, and waste treatment. Based on the indexes, CUB will offer preferential loan rates. Aside from CUB, the HKQAA has also provided certification services for ESG and green finance to other international financial institutes, including Singapore’s United Overseas Bank (UOB) [UOB:SP], Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) [8316:JP], and London-based Standard Chartered [STAN:LN].

Sources:

https://tw.news.yahoo.com/%E5%9C%8B%E6%B3%B0%E4%B8%96%E8%8F%AF-hkqaa%E7%B0%BDmou-%E6%8E%A8esg%E8%9E%8D%E8%B3%87%E6%A5%AD%E5%8B%99-102116206.html

https://www.there100.org/