New push for ESG performance among local PLCs
Kuala Lumpur: Bursa Malaysia Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd entered into an MoU to accelerate the adoption of environmental, social and governance practices among Malaysian Public Listed Companies through the #financing4ESG initiative.
Through this MoU, CIMB will become the first home-grown bank to collaborate with the Exchange on #financing4ESG.
Under the MoU, CIMB will collaborate with Bursa Malaysia to offer sustainable finance offerings for Malaysian PLCs in alignment with the ratings model of the FTSE4Good Bursa Malaysia index.
The collaboration aims to help Malaysian PLCs improve their sustainability performance and ratings for inclusion in the index, and at the same time support their transition towards more sustainable business practices through various green, social, sustainable impact products and services offered by the Group.
As part of the collaboration, Bursa Malaysia will also coordinate joint engagement and onboarding sessions for eligible PLCs together with CIMB on the F4GBM framework, as well as the Group’s solutions under its GSSIPS Framework.
ESG offerings
These solutions may include CIMB’s existing ESG offerings such as sustainability-linked loans and sustainability-linked treasury solutions for corporate clients, which encourage sustainable practices by providing financial incentives to the clients based on their achievement of pre-agreed sustainability performance targets.
CIMB may also reference the F4GBM framework and ratings model in structuring sustainability- linked transactions with the relevant SPTs for corporates that seek to raise financing or enter into a derivative transaction whilst also strengthening their ESG adoption.
“As ESG compliance and disclosure have become a global demand, we are pleased to have CIMB together with us on our journey to enable Malaysian PLCs to become regional leaders in the ESG space,” says Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift, CEO of Bursa Malaysia.
“Being one of the largest banks in Malaysia, CIMB is in a position of influence to encourage its clients to adopt ESG best practices.”