(From left) Tan, together with OCBC Bank managing director and Investment Banking debt markets head Lee Joo Wee and ESGBusiness Magazine contributing editor Simon Hyett.
The bank was honoured for driving innovation and its sustainability initiatives
KUALA LUMPUR: OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Berhad (OCBC Bank) received the Sustainable Infrastructure Award on Nov 8, in the inaugural ESGBusiness Awards 2023.
The event was held at Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore.
The award by ESGBusiness magazine was in recognition of the bank’s ongoing commitment and dedication to sustainability and environmental stewardship.
In receiving the award, the bank’s managing director, senior banker and investment banking head Tan Ai Chin said, “OCBC Bank is honoured to be the first recipient of this award, which solidifies our unwavering commitment in further advancing the adoption of ESG best practices amongst our business partners by offering holistic and value accretive financing solutions as well as playing a key role in the sustainability ecosystem.
“This recognition is not just for us, it is symbolic of our successful partnership and collaboration with our valued clients who have entrusted us to be part of their transition journey.
“We have also formed strategic collaborations with other industry stakeholders such as Bursa Malaysia to facilitate and expedite the transition across all business value chains for corporates.
“This is another testament to our continuous initiatives to lead the way towards a greener and sustainable future, for now and beyond.”
As a strong advocate of sustainability, OCBC Bank has been driving innovation and sustainability initiatives particularly in the development of the sustainable finance markets in Malaysia with numerous bespoke and award-winning transactions.
After successfully structuring and lead-arranging the world’s first Islamic multi-currency sustainability-linked financing and the maiden issuance of a sustainability-linked bond in the Malaysian capital markets, the bank went on to pioneer two landmark transactions that set new industry benchmarks.
These were for the Sustainability Sukuk Wakalah for KPJ Healthcare Group and the Islamic ESG-linked financing stapled with an ESG-linked derivative solution for Gamuda Berhad.
OCBC Bank was also the first foreign bank in Malaysia to collaborate with Bursa Malaysia under the #financing4ESG initiative.
It has extended the partnership by being one of the early adopters of Bursa Malaysia’s Centralised Sustainability Intelligence (CSI) platform, together with its exclusive partner Westport Holdings Berhad, which is one of the biggest ports in South-East Asia.
The CSI platform facilitates corporations in managing the transition of their entire supply chain ecosystem as part of their larger decarbonisation initiative.
ESGBusiness Awards 2023 was organised by ESGBusiness magazine, a key brand under the Charlton Media Group, leading business information group in Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines.
This inaugural event celebrates companies that lead the way in building a sustainable future and recognises corporations that work towards sustainable development goals, embrace innovation, and make meaningful impacts in areas such as climate change mitigation, resource conservation, social responsibility and ethical governance.
