Context

In order to accelerate international connectivity, enforce environmental and social risk management, and lead business partners towards sustainable and stable operation, Mega Bank, a subsidiary of Mega Financial Holdings, has been approved to join the Equator Principles Association on 17 August, 2021, becoming the second among the government-invested banks in Taiwan that adopts the Equator Principles (EP) and the 119 number of international EP financial institution. From now on, Mega Bank will review its credit facility cases following the Equator Principles, so as to urge enterprises fulfilling environmental and social responsibilities through financial influence.

Mega Bank stated that the EP works as a risk management framework for determining, assessing and managing environmental and social risk in projects and is primarily intended to provide a minimum standard for due diligence and monitoring to support responsible risk decision-making. After adopting EP, high-risk credit facility cases that apply EP will require a third-party organization to conduct environmental and social risk assessments. Clients will also have to propose relevant improvement plans, followed by monitoring by the bank, to ensure that funds are not used for projects with major potential risks or negative impacts on the environment or the society.

Facing the unavoidable impact of climate change risks, companies all over the world must face up to the challenges at operational level, and the financial industry is responsible for being a promoter to industrial transformation. The Financial Supervisory Commission R.O.C. has adopted the "Green Finance 2.0" policy to promote the sustainable development of society as a whole. By incorporating EP into the credit facility cases review process, Meg Bank will be able to help encourage companies to carry out corporate social responsibility, and to achieve the goal of long-term stable operation.

Mega Bank has long integrated the spirit of environmental protection and social responsibility into corporate operation and management. In addition to becoming a signatory of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) in April 2020, Mega Bank also participated in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and was recognized as "management" level; In the field of sustainable finance, green bonds are issued to support green energy-related businesses, and Mega Bank has been selected for domestic ESG-related indexes such as the FTSE4Good TIP Taiwan ESG Index.

Joining the Equator Principles Association marks an important milestone in Mega Bank’s ongoing strive for sustainable development. In the future, Mega Bank will keep following international trends in the field of sustainable finance actively, further deepen the culture of integrity, steady growth, and sustainable development, and also be committed to the practice of corporate social responsibility.