31227 Stanchart R&A

Our Approach to Corporate Responsibility Standard Chartered has a strong tradition of supporting the communities in which we operate. We understand we have a direct impact on the environment through our operations and indirectly through our business activity, and we are committed to treating our employees and customers fairly. Making Corporate Responsibility We established a Diversity Council and Reaching customers in effective is not only the right thing to began to refocus our community underdeveloped markets do but is good for business. In2004, programmes to ensure that they achieve To remain competitive, we need to we took the decision to introduce a a measurable, sustainable impact. constantly innovate to meet the needs Corporate Responsibility and of all our customers. We believe we Community Committee, reporting to Serving our customers have an important role to play in the Board and led by our Chairman. We want Standard Chartered to be reaching customers for whom banking renowned for excellent customer services are underdeveloped. The Committee’s task is to ensure that service across Asia, Africa and the our Corporate Responsibility aspirations For example, in Tanzania we have Middle East. align with our business activities. Our developed a strategy to help fund the aim is to develop real benefits for our In 2004, we launched our Outserve credit needy agricultural sector. stakeholders, make our brand stand programme to achieve this goal. We visited over 40 Tanzanian farms in out and help our business grow. Outserve allows us to target areas 2004 to assess their financial needs where we need to improve and measure We adopt a proactive approach to and identified a requirement for $50 our performance in each of our understanding the needs of our million in financing – half in 2004 and markets in a consistent way, compare stakeholders. In 2004 we held the first the rest in 2005. To raise the money, ourselves with competitors and of a seriesof Corporate Responsibility we created an agricultural deposit enhance our processes. forums for analysts and regulators. account for customers who wanted We also want to build strong links with to support the industry rather than In October, the Bank’s Corporate our customers through our community investing in bonds or other products. Responsibility goals were shared with programmes and a number of We are now the leading bank for the chief executives of all our customers are involved in our Seeing agriculture in the country. 56countries and territories. They have is Believing programme. an important leadership role to play in Working with development developing and embedding our Customers trust us to operate according organisations approach and ensuring that our policies to our values. In 2004, we continued We are committed to providing banking are implemented globally. our efforts with initiatives to combat services to development organisations money laundering and to understand This year we also made important and helping them work effectively in our the social and environmental risks of changes to the way we manage our operating territories. our lending activity. health and safety programmes, the social Located in London, but working with a and environmental impacts of our lending We believe these activities help to global team of 35, we provide banking decisions and our procurement processes. make our brand stand out from our services for aid agencies, development competitors. Ultimately they underpin institutions and non-governmental our business and will help us to organisations. grow stronger. Asian Tsunami 2004 ended on a tragic note when the Asian Tsunami struck. It impacted some of the markets Corporate Responsibility Report in which we operate and, whilst our business In May 2005 we will be producing our was largely unaffected, some of our employees first Corporate Responsibility Report were affected, directly or indirectly. We have that will provide more information and committed $5 million as an initial contribution to data on each of the sections covered in the relief efforts. In Indonesia, we are working this part of our Annual Report. with the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) and other development organisations under the United Nations. In Thailand, we are helping to build a boarding school for 400 children orphaned by the Tsunami. In addition, colleagues around the world have raised over $450,000 to support the victims of the tragedy. 20 Standard Chartered Annual Report and Accounts 2004 One key area of expertise is the efficient We trained approximately 800 personal Living with HIV transfer of funds and related foreign financial consultants in 2004. In 2005 Standard Chartered’s Living with HIV programme aims to spread understanding of HIV and AIDS to exchange needed to tackle humanitarian we will launch a people management our employees, their families and the communities crises. In 2004, Afghanistan has been policy for direct sales employees, in which they live. We want to reduce the stigma attached to HIV and AIDS so that more people a focus for the team, where 90 per cent including enhanced training in risk can learn about prevention and take advantage of our business is with development management and a learning pack to of testing and treatment. On World AIDS Day, organisations. ensure all legal and regulatory Standard Chartered employees around the world participated in many activities designed to create requirements are met consistently. awareness amongst local communities. Employees Fair treatment of customers in Zimbabwe hung awareness posters and set up As financial products and services information desks in every branch. Our Hong Kong We work hard to offer the right become more sophisticated and office arranged a bus, which travelled around busy products to the right people. We have a streets sharing information and handing out red widespread we recognise we have a diverse customer base in many different ribbons, flyers, and balloons. role to play in educating our customers markets and we have an obligation to about better financial planning. sell our products in a responsible A financial literacy scheme we ran in manner. Educating consumers about Malaysia is typical of the work we do financial products and planning is a to educate consumers. key responsibility. Financial literacy Our Malaysian financial literacy campaign was designed to help one hour within consumers understand new products emails o all like unit trusts and mortgages as well Respond t as general financial planning. We placed a number of articles in three Pledge cards leading newspapers to raise During Outserve week every awareness and ran a series of employee made a customer service seminars and exhibitions. Open to pledge as part of our goal to be customers and non-customers renowned for excellent customer alike, the seminars attracted around service. The cards act as a reminder 1,000 participants. to employees of the importance of Outserving our competition. Annual Report and Accounts 2004 Standard Chartered 21 Corporate Responsibility Anti-Money laundering An important part of our approach to tackling money laundering is our Know Your Customer (KYC) scheme. We encourage and train all our employees to develop a real knowledge of their customers to help us serve them better and to sharpen our processes in tackling fraud and money laundering. In 2004 we introduced a number of new training schemes including Consumer Banking Credit Risk management, enhanced KYC training and both e-learning and classroom courses on anti-money laundering. Sustainable lending steering group that will now report to Property Our social and environmental risk policy the Corporate Responsibility and Currently around 20per cent of our is designed to ensure that these issues Community Committee. The steering buildings are wholly owned and we are are evaluated in all decisions our group makes sure that we manage and moving towards occupying freeholds business managers take. We also need reduce our environmental impacts as rather than leasing properties. This to ensure that our relationship effectively as possible. We want to make move will help us control and manage managers have the tools to assess environmental management part of our the impact of the Bank’s buildings more these risks against local and everyday business life. closely. international standards. Our Global Environmental Management As well as reappraising our property During 2004 we completed the training System (GEMS) enables us to measure portfolios, we are taking a much more of 420 relationship managers to help our environmental impact and understand rigorous approach to drawing up them identify these types of risk. We how efficiently we are using natural specifications for new or refurbished successfully strengthened the role of resources. GEMS is aimed at buildings buildings to ensure we use renewable the Reputational Risk Committee in with more than 25,000 sqft of floor resources and materials, and increase managing this process and raised space, or where more than 200 people energy efficiency. awareness throughout Wholesale work. Our intention is that the system We have created a standard Banking. In 2005, all our employees will will cover 70 per cent of employees specification, called the Global Office be required to undertake training in worldwide by 2006. Workplace Standard, for all new reputational risk. We also adjusted our projects. It is currently being used in procedures during the year to integrate We have had some excellent results in projects in London and Kenya and was the Equator Principles – used to assess countries where GEMS has already a central part of the refurbishment of social and environmental risks in big taken root. In India GEMS has now the new headquarters of the Bank in development projects. been introduced at 10 offices, six more than we initially targeted. In Thailand, Kuala Lumpur. Climate change and our Central Services division in Travel the environment Bangkok achieved ISO14001 Air travel is our single biggest direct Tackling climate change is of growing certification by BSI Certification environmental impact and for some importance for governments, companies (Thailand) during 2004.

Load more