PETALING JAYA: Maybank Group has mobilised a total of RM28.6bil in green financing, more than half of its RM50bil goal by 2025.
CEO, Maybank Investment Banking Group Michael Oh-Lau said of this, RM21.94bil was mobilised to the non-retail sector of which over 60% was for green buildings.
“And another RM6.65bil was mobilised to the retail sector, of which close to half was earmarked for affordable housing,” he said at the Penang Green Finance Conference yesterday.
Oh-Lau said the RM50bil sustainable or green financing goal is slightly less than 10% of the group’s total gross loans as at Sept 30.
“We expect the percentage of sustainable finance against the group’s overall portfolio composition to continue its increase as we transition with our clients to a low-carbon economy.
“To support the acceleration of our sustainable financing goal, we have also established a dedicated Sustainable Finance team that is actively involved in product ideation, structuring, engagement and thought leadership.”
He said 2021 was a watershed year for Maybank in its goal of becoming a regional environmental, social and governance leader by 2025.
“I had earlier explained the importance of delivering tangible benefits. This means ‘walking the talk’. We launched the sustainable products framework this year to further reinforce our know-how in sustainable financing.
“By introducing such a framework into our business, what we are doing is we are providing our teams with the right tools and clear parameters that will help them design products and solutions to match the needs of our large customer base.
“It’s vital for us to never lose sight of our clients and their different transition journeys,” Oh-Lau said.
He also said the lender is working with governments and state enterprises to connect capital markets with their domestic sustainability development goals.
“A most recent example is the landmark green bond issuance for Singapore’s Housing & Development Board where we acted as the joint lead manager and joint bookrunner.
“We were the primary distribution bank for the government of Malaysia’s landmark Sukuk Prihatin, the first war-bond like sukuk which was issued during the pandemic.
“On the small medium enterprise front, we actively support them by providing cheaper financing to help them transition to low carbon and sustainable business operations,” Oh-Lau said.
He said the bank does this by “actively participating” in the Low Carbon Transition Fund, an initiative developed by Bank Negara.
On Penang specifically, he said the bank is already actively participating in its sustainable development.
“On March 3 this year, Maybank Ventures, a Maybank subsidiary, inked a collaboration with Wakaf Pulau Pinang for the development of affordable housing to support the B40 home ownership needs on state wakaf land.
“To make this collaboration more attractive, we will also be introducing HouzKEY, which is a rent-to-own scheme that we have designed to help remove the downpayment barrier for low-income home buyers.”
