Photo: Bloomberg
Quoteworthy:
A continuation of the greatest political witch hunt in the history of the United States- statement from former US president Donald Trump’s office following the start of criminal probes by the New York attorney general’s office
Singapore denies it has its own Covid-19 variant, orders corrections
Singapore’s Ministry of Health issued an order to Facebook, Twitter and SPH Magazines requiring corrections to be made over what it says are online falsehoods that imply a new coronavirus variant had originated in the country.
“There is no new ‘Singapore’ variant of Covid-19,” the ministry said in a statement. “Neither is there evidence of any Covid-19 variant that is ‘extremely dangerous for kids’. The strain that is prevalent in many of the Covid-19 cases detected in Singapore in recent weeks is the B.1.617.2 variant, which originated from India.”
The correction orders, which are issued under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, require the parties to carry a correction notice alongside the original posts to all of their end-users in Singapore.
The move follows an earlier spat between the Singapore government and New Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who claimed that a new virus strain discovered in Singapore was harmful to children and called for an immediate halt of flights with the Southeast Asian nation to avoid a third wave of infections. India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar later clarified that Kejriwal “does not speak for India” and that “irresponsible comments from those who should know better can damage long-standing partnerships”.
A new wave of infections has led Singapore to impose stricter safe management measures. Last month, the country tightened border controls with India, including a ban on visitors due to the deteriorating situation there though testing has shown the India strain to be linked with several clusters locally. — Bloomberg
MAS taskforce issues guide for climate-related disclosures and framework for green trade finance
A financial industry taskforce convened by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has launched several initiatives to accelerate green finance in Singapore on May 19.
One such initiative is the issuance of a detailed implementation guide by the Green Finance Industry Taskforce (GFIT) for climate-related disclosures by financial institutions.
The guide sets out best practices that are aligned with the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures. It also outlines specific disclosure practices for each of the banking, insurance and asset management sectors.
The GFIT has also set out a framework to help banks assess eligible green trade finance transactions, as well as a whitepaper on scaling green finance in sectors including real estate and fund management.
The framework provides a principles-based approach for banks to assess eligible green trade finance transactions and specific guides on recommended industry certifications for trade finance activities to qualify as green.
Based on the framework, HSBC and United Overseas Bank (UOB) have piloted four green trade finance transactions for renewable energy, recycling, agriculture and farming activities, to support businesses in greening their supply chains.
HSBC Singapore has piloted two transactions under the framework, while UOB says the facilities will help two of its clients in Singapore’s food supply chain build on their sustainability initiatives and strengthen their supply chain resilience.
The whitepaper, which outlines recommendations and lays out a road map to scale green finance in the above-mentioned sectors, includes a green securitisation platform to scale sustainable infrastructure investments in the region. It also includes recommendations for the use of transition bonds and loans in the shipping, oil and gas, as well as automotive sectors to support more sustainable practices.
In addition, GFIT will launch a series of workshops and e-learning modules for financial institutions and corporates to build capacity in green finance such as enhancing environment-related disclosures and customising green financing solutions for transition sectors. The workshops and e-learning modules will take place from May to April 2022.
Gillian Tan, assistant managing director (development and international) at MAS, says: “GFIT’s initiatives to enhance climate-related disclosures and strengthen green capabilities will enable financial institutions to effectively develop green solutions and align their portfolios towards facilitating Asia’s transition to a low carbon economy.”
“These initiatives will also contribute to global efforts to achieve greater consistency and comparability in climate-related disclosures, as well as provide investors and market participants with the necessary information for climate risk analysis and investment decision-making,” Tan adds.
“Climate change requires all areas of society to do their part. The Green & Sustainable Trade Finance and Working Capital Framework (GTF) sets in motion a move towards a clear, unified methodology to qualify trades and working capital loans as sustainable, and represents a tangible blueprint for financial institutions to assess, monitor and report on how ‘green’ a company’s activities are. We believe that the GTF is a great step in the right direction on our journey to address climate change,” says Iain Morrison, head of global trade & receivables finance (GTRF) at HSBC Singapore.
“Companies that qualify for a green trade financing facility have taken steps to mitigate their environmental, social and governance risks such as identifying suppliers with good overall management practices and building more resilient supply chains. They are also at the forefront of an industry megatrend. There is more than $1 trillion worth of trade that flows through Singapore, of which more than $90 billion meets the requirements of being green and sustainable. These trade flows provide an immense opportunity for us to work with companies to offer green trade financing and to support their trade flows through our regional network capabilities,” says Frederick Chin, head of group wholesale banking and markets at UOB. — Felicia Tan
SGX and NUS see improvement in companies’ sustainability reporting quality and disclosures
A joint review of Singapore-listed issuers’ sustainability reports by Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) and the Centre for Governance and Sustainability (CGS) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School has revealed that listed issuers have shown overall improvement in their sustainability reporting and the level of disclosure as compared to the last review in 2019.
The review found that the average overall score based on the SGX-CGS Sustainability Reporting Scorecard rose to 71.7 points from 60.6 in 2019.
The improved score comes amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, heightened concerns about the impact of climate change and a boom in sustainability-linked financing.
The review indicates an overall increase in the depth and understanding of sustainability reporting, as well as sustainability management among Singapore-listed issuers.
Smaller issuers, especially those listed on the sponsor-supervised Catalist board, made the biggest gains. The average scores of smaller issuers had increased by 13 points, followed by mid-cap issuers by 10 points and big-cap issuers by 6 points.
Disclosures reflected better, but still limited depth of reporting. Among all companies, 66% disclosed unfavourable aspects of sustainability performance from 55% in 2019. In disclosing both positive and negative performance trends, 50% did so, compared to just 26% in 2019.
Issuers are observed to be embedding sustainability more deeply into their corporate structures and strategies. The proportion of issuers that linked top executive remuneration and employee, environment, social and governance (EESG) performance was a modest 26%, increasing from 8% in 2019.
The study had also explored the impact of Covid-19 and climate change in closer detail. About 61% of issuers had made disclosures related to the pandemic, predominantly covering efforts to ensure the safety and well-being of employees and other stakeholders given the declines in sales as well as operational disruptions.
With regards to climate change disclosures, almost half of listed issuers had discussed climate change as an EESG factor in their reports, including economic impacts and emissions.
Associate Professor Lawrence Loh, director of CGS at NUS Business School cites the benefits of good sustainability reporting where it may “help companies attract environmentally, conscious customers, obtain lower-cost financing and gain better capital”.
Overall, Singapore-listed issuers must continue developing their sustainability reporting in order to better manage emerging risks and opportunities, and to be better prepared for greater scrutiny from stakeholders. — Vivian Yee
