Maybank Group has launched its Sustainable Product Framework (SPF) to enable the development of Islamic and conventional sustainable products. The framework covers products offered under corporate lending, debt and equity capital markets, trade financing, retail financing, insurance, asset and wealth management, derivatives and deposits.
“We hope that by giving our teams the right tools and clarity on perimeters of sustainable financing, this can expedite the growth of timely ESG financing solutions over the near term as well as enhance our efficiency in turnaround time for processing of these solutions,” Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa, the chairman of Maybank, said.
The framework, developed with Sustainalytics, will guide the development of themed green, social and sustainable products. It also details qualifying transition elements across the various sectors. Product propositions with green, social, sustainable, sustainability-linked or transition labels must reference the framework moving forward. The framework distinguishes three types of sustainable financing: dedicated financing, general purpose financing and transition financing.
The SPF also details its sustainability classification logic for its asset management arm as well as its insurance arm. Funds are qualified as sustainable if they are qualified SRI funds, thematic funds, recognized or endorsed by credible bodies and if they have reputable ESG ratings.
The framework lists six high-risk sectors the group has developed position papers and risk acceptance criteria (RAC) on to integrate sustainability considerations in financing decisions for clients in these sectors. The sectors are palm oil, forestry and logging, construction and real estate, power, oil and gas, and mining and quarrying. The RAC for the construction and real estate sector was the latest to be identified. It was affirmed in 2021 with the RAC rolling out in 2022, according to the Maybank Sustainability Report 2021.
The group has several outstanding sustainability commitments which it hopes the new framework will enable it to achieve. The commitments include mobilizing RM50 billion (US$11.02 billion) in sustainable finance by 2025, improving the lives of one million households across ASEAN by 2025, achieving carbon-neutral emissions by 2030 and a net-zero carbon equivalent by 2050 and achieving one million hours per annum on sustainability and delivering 1,000 significant UN SDGs-related outcomes by 2025.
The framework will be updated annually with Sustainalytics to capture the latest market developments. Maybank will report its sustainability achievement annually at a minimum via its annual reports and substantivity reports.