| Red Line | Text of policies | Comments | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regulatory requirements | |||
| Ensure Legality | Environmental Policy Hang Seng's Environmental policy was formulated with reference to the statement by financial istitutions on the environmental and sustainable development, which forms part of the United Nations Environment Programme. Hang Seng seeks to (...) meet all relevant environmental, health and sefety laws and regulations CSR Report 2018 Being a principal member of the HSBC Group, Hang Seng operates under a number of international commitments to which the HSBC Group is a signatory or for which the group has expressed public support. These include: • The Equator Principles • The Global Sullivan Principles • The International Bill of Human Rights • International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work • The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises • The UN Global Compact • The UN Guiding Principles’ Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework • The UN Principles for Responsible Investment • The UN Principles for Sustainable Insurance • The UN Sustainable Development Goals | All projects should comply with national laws and key international conventions. | well |
| No Corruption and Tax Evasion | CSR Report 2018 We manage tax risk based on a formal tax risk management framework. We are committed to complying with the spirit and the letter of tax law, and aim to maintain an open and transparent relationship with the tax authorities. We adopted initiatives that aim to increase transparency, including the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the OECD Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (the ‘Common Reporting Standard’) . We do not employ tax avoidance structures or strategies, e.g. artifcially diverting profts to low tax jurisdictions. We principally operate and pay taxes in Hong Kong. The relevant fnancial information is disclosed in our Annual Report. To identify bribery or corruption risks, customer accounts are subject to the standard Know Your Customer, Customer Due Diligence, and Transaction Monitoring procedures. All recordkeeping is governed by the HSBC Group’s record management policies. We take a zero-tolerance approach towards bribery and corruption. | Hang Seng activiley screens its clients on corrupation. | well |
| Ensure ESIA for mills and plantations | Environmental policy - It incorporates environmental risk assessment into credit decisions to ensure responisble finanance. Customers are expected to fulfill the appropriate compliance oblications applicable to their business. | The policy states it incorporates ESIA's into its decisions, but is not clear on when these are required, neither does it requires these to be public. | partly |
| Social requirements | |||
| Ensure FPIC | CSR Report 2018 Robust ‘Know Your Customer’ and assessment processes are designed to minimise our risk of establishing relationships with individuals and organisations engaged in activities such as money laundering, terrorism and irresponsible environmental practices, or becoming involved in operations that may involve forced or child labour, or that violate indigenous or other human rights. | No publicly available policies or documentation were found that cover this criteria. | not |
| Respect Human Rights | CSR Report 2018 Robust ‘Know Your Customer’ and assessment processes are designed to minimise our risk of establishing relationships with individuals and organisations engaged in activities such as money laundering, terrorism and irresponsible environmental practices, or becoming involved in operations that may involve forced or child labour, or that violate indigenous or other human rights. We adopted the HSBC Statement on Human Rights , which follows the UN Guiding Principle’s Protect. | HSBC will uphold key conventions on human rights, but it does not require clients to demonstrate they do so too. | partly |
| Respect Indigenous rights and customary land use rights | CSR Report 2018 Robust ‘Know Your Customer’ and assessment processes are designed to minimise our risk of establishing relationships with individuals and organisations engaged in activities such as money laundering, terrorism and irresponsible environmental practices, or becoming involved in operations that may involve forced or child labour, or that violate indigenous or other human rights. | No publicly available policies or documentation were found that cover this criteria. | not |
| No forced resettlement | CSR Report 2018 Robust ‘Know Your Customer’ and assessment processes are designed to minimise our risk of establishing relationships with individuals and organisations engaged in activities such as money laundering, terrorism and irresponsible environmental practices, or becoming involved in operations that may involve forced or child labour, or that violate indigenous or other human rights. | No publicly available policies or documentation were found that cover this criteria. | not |
| Environmental Requirements | |||
| No forest degradation and deforestation | Environment page We have adopted the Equator Principles, and have specific guidelines on lending to businesses operating in environmentally sensitive sectors such as chemicals, energy, forestry, freshwater, mining and metals, agricultural commodities, and World Heritage Sites and Ramsar wetlands. CSR Report 2018 We are concerned about deforestation, which impacts on the habitat of millions of species. We require customers in the forestry sector to obtain 100% international certifcations (FSC/PEFC certifed) for their activities in high-risk countries. | PEFC does not provide any guarantees of protection of vulnerable areas. No publicly available policies or documentation were found that cover this criteria. | not |
| Protect endangered species | No publicly available policies or documentation were found that cover this criteria. | not | |
| No high-risk species | No publicly available policies or documentation were found that cover this criteria. | not | |
| No fire | No publicly available policies or documentation were found that cover this criteria. | not | |
| Protect peat | No publicly available policies or documentation were found that cover this criteria. | not | |
| No persistent pollution | Environmental Policy - Hang Seng seeks to (...) minimise the use of chlorofluorcarbons (CFCs) | The policy only mentions the intent to reduce CFCs but does not provide any criteria for clients. | not |
| Corporate association / scope of the policy | |||
| Corporate association / scope of the policy | No publicly available policies or documentation were found that cover this criteria. | not |
