Sustainable and Responsible Finance

The hallmark of sustainable and responsible finance is reflective of the integration of Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) considerations into the Group’s DNA. This covers every aspect of our business and operations, from strategy, business activities of lending and financing, capital market and advisory, investment, wealth management, insurance business, risk management, to disclosure and reporting.

Our vision is to integrate ESG considerations into our business strategies and decision making process while nurturing customers and communities towards achieving sustainable growth . This will be achieved through three focus areas as defined in the Group’s Sustainability Strategy:

Sustainable Financial Services

Create positive impacts through our lending, capital markets, wealth management, deposits, investment, asset management and insurance businesses

Financial Inclusion

Promote financial inclusion by providing access to financial products and services to targeted individuals (students, youth, new to the workforce, the underserved) and businesses (SMEs, micro-enterprises, etc.)

Advancing SMEs Towards Sustainable Business Practices

Nurture and support SMEs in their journey towards building a sustainable business

Sustainability Sukuk and Bond Framework

RHB Bank, as a member of the International Capital Market Associations (“ICMA”), has established the Group’s Sustainability Sukuk and Bond Framework (“Framework”) towards impact investment that benefits society, safeguard our environment and building resilience against climate change. This framework regulates the issuance of debt instruments by RHB and our banking subsidiaries, reinforcing our capabilities and commitments in financing green and social projects that contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The Framework is aligned with the Green Bond Principles, Social Bond Principles and Sustainability Bond Guidelines issued by ICMA, as well as the ASEAN Green Bond Standards, ASEAN Social Bond Standards and ASEAN Sustainability Bond Standards issued by the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum.
A second-party opinion on the Framework was obtained from Sustainalytiscs on 15 March 2023. The use of proceeds from such instrument will go towards the following categories of eligible projects and/or activities:

GREEN		SOCIAL
Renewable energy	Climate Change Adaptation	Affordable basic infrastructure
Energy efficiency	Clean transportation	Access to essential services
Pollution prevention and control	Green Buildings	Affordable housing
Environmentally sustainable management of living natural resources and land use	Eco-efficient and/or circular economy adapted products, production technologies and processes	Food security and sustainable food systems
Sustainable water and wastewater management		Employment generation

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