China Development Financial (hereinafter CDF), having aggressively devoted itself to environmental, social, and governance (ESG), emerged as a big winner at the 2019 Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Awards (TCSA), winning the “Growth Through Innovation”, “Social Inclusion”, and “Climate Leadership” honors, which is evidence of the significant resources and efforts CDF has channeled into incubation of innovation, all-inclusive finance, and green finance. Other accolades CDF has won this year include the Corporate Comprehensive Performance Award and Corporate Sustainability Report Award (Gold).
“CDF has employed five types of capital – funds, wisdom, human resources, nature, and communities relations – in order to execute its five core strategies of ESG – sustainable corporate governance, sustainable finance, sustainable human resources development, sustainable environment, and sharing of sustainability values,” said Richard Chang, spokesperson of CDF.
In regards to the “Growth Through Innovation” award, CDF subsidiary KGI Bank has used telecom networks to confirm identity, which benefits customers who have little experience dealing with banks, as it makes it less daunting to apply for financial products online and represents a way of realizing all-inclusive finance. By using mobile communications technology to cross-confirm ID, KGI Bank has created a digital ID that promises seamless service. This, in fact, is the first case of a financial sandbox innovative experiment in Taiwan.
Regarding the “Social Inclusion” award, CDF has thrown its full weight behind supporting local innovation start-ups in Taiwan, having set up the CDF Innovation Accelerator to funnel resources into start-ups active in internet/cloud, IoT, mobile internet, and next-generation e-commerce, in order to connect to overseas networks and explore overseas markets. In addition, KGI Bank led peers in setting up its own API Management platform at FinTech Space to facilitate cooperation with start-ups from different sectors and promote FinTech innovation.
As ESG-related topics increasingly draw attention from investors all over the world, CDF’s engagement in sustainability work begins from within its core business segments. In green project finance, CDF championed syndicated loan projects as the leading bank for the first offshore wind power project in the Asia Pacific region, as well as the first solar power station project in Taiwan. CDF’s investments in green energy industries amounted to NT$1.4bn, representing 16% of its total portfolio outstanding. Green energy credit balance rose 18% YoY to NT$17.6bn, and is projected to rise at a CAGR of 8-10% over the next three years. CDF led a total of eight ESG-related IPO and SPO projects for total underwriting value of NT$3.15bn; in addition to two green bonds issuances that raised NT$5.3bn. In regards to participating in environmental sustainability advocacy, Mr. Chang said that CDF will continue to support the international initiative Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and aims to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
TCSA consists of four main groups of awards, namely the Corporate Comprehensive Performance Awards, the Outstanding Corporate Sustainability Professionals Awards, the Corporate Sustainability Report Awards, and the Best Performance of Specific Category Awards. There are ten specific category awards that cover ESG and SDGS, and 115 experts and scholars across Taiwan were invited as judges.
