Standard Bank

The financial institution does not make political contributions and assigns decision-making and oversight for its sustainability strategy to its highest governance body. Performance criteria for senior executive remuneration are linked to specific sustainability targets with responsibility for implementing the sustainability strategy assigned to various functions, teams, or committees. It has a stewardship policy that includes client and stakeholder engagement, advocacy, and partnerships.

The institution discloses a list of trade associations that it is a member of and publishes time-bound, measurable targets for providing products, services, and capital for climate solutions. Key sectors, clients, and investees for climate engagement are transparently identified. Additionally, the institution discloses the monetary amount or share of products, services, and capital allocated to nature-positive solutions, and provides examples of support for climate adaptation and resilience.

It monitors its Scope 1-2 emissions and discloses monetary amounts or shares allocated to women-owned businesses, usually excluded groups, and small- and medium-sized enterprises. Furthermore, it discloses operations by country and the monetary amounts or shares provided to low-income and lower-middle-income countries.

The financial institution has a publicly available policy statement committing to respect specific workers’ rights and has the opportunity to reference all ILO fundamental rights at work. It discloses expectations for suppliers to respect these rights but could strengthen its language to formalise this commitment. There is an opportunity to disclose how a living wage is determined in its operational regions and to include anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in contracts. While it identifies material sustainability impacts across its value chain, further detail on the process and criteria for prioritisation is needed.

The stewardship policy could incorporate environmental transitions and social best practices to align with the sustainability strategy. Although it monitors scope 3 emissions beyond financed emissions, additional categories could be covered with rationale for exclusions. Recommendations include disclosing the breakdown of clients by income group and processes to avoid divestment from low-income countries due to sustainability strategies.

The risk assessment process includes some ILO fundamental rights risks but could be expanded to cover all provisions. While there is a process for mitigating risks related to these rights, further details are needed. It is also recommended to provide an example of conclusions and actions taken regarding salient human rights issues from assessment processes in the last three years.

This scorecard refers to information in English which was publicly available by July 15 2024. AuM and Total assets are stated in USD for comparability and have been calculated based on reported local currency values multiplied by applicable IMF currency converter values.