The ABA would like to submit to your perusal the Report of Sustainable Banking Regulations in ASEAN – Raising the Bar issued by the World Wide Fund (WWF).

Focusing on countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, the 40-page report assesses regulations and guidelines issued by financial regulators or banking associations in the five above countries, based on a new framework reflecting WWF’s insights on what constitutes a robust foundation of regulatory practices. The framework is based on 25 indicators divided across six pillars: scope, strategy & governance, policies & processes, portfolio risks & impacts, disclosure & transparency and enabling environment.

WWF believes that the regulations and guidelines currently in place should help address the uneven progress made by banks in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as demonstrated by WWF’s latest Sustainable Banking Assessment (SUSBA), published in August 2019. SUSBA assesses the ESG practices of ASEAN and international banks, including the 29 banks from the five countries assessed in this new report.

Regulators can build on the report’s findings and recommendations to enhance the resilience of the ASEAN banking industry, and support the achievement of the Paris Agreement objectives and UN Sustainable Development Goals.

For more information on the report, interested parties may wish to visit the following link: https://www.wwf.sg/ .

Thank you, and with best regards.

Sincerely yours,

Ernest Lin
Secretary-Treasurer
ABA