Standard Chartered Saadiq Malaysia executes Islamic Sustainable Account solution with PETRONAS

KUALA LUMPUR: Standard Chartered Saadiq Malaysia unveiled a major achievement on the establishment of Islamic Sustainable Accounts, at the recent Global Forum of Islamic Economics and Finance. The bank is proud to mark the milestone with PETRONAS in opening Islamic Sustainable Accounts for its subsidiaries engaged in sustainable activities. This solution demonstrates the bank’s strong commitment to support the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) by being the first bank to offer a sustainable current account savings account in Malaysia. Cash placed into the Sustainable Account is referenced against projects aligned with Standard Chartered’s Green and Sustainable Product Framework. This framework, developed with the support of Sustainalytics – a leading independent provider of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) research and ratings – guides the development of green and sustainable products that reference a specific green or sustainable use of proceeds, and is mapped against the UN SDGs. The Islamic Sustainable Account solution, based on the commodity murabahah concept, caters for corporates that are looking to use their funds to contribute to sustainable development, while maintaining daily access to liquidity for their treasury needs. Standard Chartered Saadiq Malaysia chief executive officer Bilal Parvaiz said, “We have a unique Islamic and sustainability banking proposition, being the only bank in the country that offers an Islamic Sustainable Account solution, which captures payments and collection flows into a single account. “This provides PETRONAS with the ability to embed sustainability into their cash management in Malaysia. We are delighted to collaborate with PETRONAS Group and look forward to supporting them further on their sustainability journey.” The Islamic Sustainable Account solution is in line with Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) development priorities for the financial sector that seeks to advance value-based finance through Islamic finance leadership to spur growth that is progressive, sustainable and inclusive, under the Financial Sector Blueprint 2022 to 2026. It builds on BNM’s pioneering work in the Value-Based Intermediation concept introduced in 2017, and complements efforts to tackle climate and environmental risks and advance sustainability practices aligned with ESG principles.