(24 March 2021 – Singapore) Standard Chartered has announced that the Bank is launching sustainable trade finance solutions across Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Europe and the Americas.
The new Sustainable Trade Finance Proposition is designed to help companies implement more sustainable practices across their ecosystems and build more resilient supply chains.
Initial product focus includes Supply Chain Finance, Invoice Financing, Receivables Services, Bonds and Guarantees and Letters of Credit. These products will help global supply chain activities, estimated at USD19 trillion by the World Trade Organisation, become more sustainable.
The proposition’s framework supports:
- Sustainable goods: Working with customers and partners to finance underlying goods that meet agreed sustainability standards.
- Sustainable suppliers: Supporting trade for suppliers who meet acceptable thresholds against ESG ratings or metrics such as gender equality, responsible sourcing criteria and water use.
- Sustainable end-use: Focusing on trade financing in sustainable industries including renewable energy, energy efficiency, the blue economy, sustainable infrastructure, water management and clean transportation.
- Transition industries: Helping industries transition and reduce their carbon footprint by offering trade financing that recognises efforts to help reduce emissions.
“Trade finance has an enormous opportunity to help make global supply chain activities more sustainable by offering companies the products and solutions they need to achieve their sustainability agendas. Our new Sustainable Trade Finance Proposition will help companies build more resilient supply chains, as we work to make global trade more sustainable and inclusive,” said Standard Chartered Commercial & Institutional Banking Corporate CEO and Europe & the Americas CEO Simon Cooper.