Morningstar
Sustainalytics has more than 30 years of experience in the preparation of ESG
ratings, and is one of the world's most authoritative ESG ratings
organizations. It regularly examines the environmental policies, social impact,
and corporate governance systems of over 15,000 companies throughout the world,
including Taiwan's 400 largest companies by market capitalization.
Sustainalytics ESG ratings take risk management as the principal focus in
classifying each of various risks faced by rated companies as "managed
risk," "unmanaged risk," or "unmanageable risk." A
Sustainalytics ESG Risk Rating is calculated as the difference between a
company's overall ESG Exposure score and its overall Managed Risk score. The
lower a score, the better is a company's ESG risk management performance. A
score of 0–10 indicates negligible risk, 10–20 indicates low risk, 20–30
indicates medium risk, 30–40 indicates high risk, and anything above 40
indicates severe risk.
In the
latest ESG Risk Rating published by Morningstar Sustainalytics in February 2024,
O-Bank received an excellent ESG Risk Rating of 7.6, which is even better than
the previous year's rating. Data from the TDCC IR Platform indicates that Sustainalytics
ranks O-Bank No. 1 in Taiwan among financial institutions and No. 2 among all
listed companies, and Sustainalytics furthermore, based on its 2023 rankings, includes
O-Bank within the "ESG Industry Top Rated" worldwide and among the
"ESG Regional Top Rated" for Asia/Pacific. Only two Taiwanese banks achieved
this distinction, which shows the high international regard that O-Bank enjoys for
the outstanding job it has done in implementing sustainable business practices
and carrying out measures to improve its performance.
In this
latest Sustainalytics ESG Risk Rating Report, O-Bank received perfect scores on
22 different indicators. Its risk was classified as negligible in ESG
Integration, Business Ethics, Data Privacy and Security, Human Capital, and
Product Governance, and the Bank's overall ESG Risk Management score was placed
in the highest "Strong" category. In addition, the Risk Rating Report
also stated: "O-Bank's overall ESG-related disclosure follows leading
practice, signaling strong accountability to investors and the public, and a
CSR Committee effectively exercises a strong oversight function. Executive compensation
has been explicitly linked to the company's core development strategies, and
the bank's readiness to address important ESG issues is better than the global
average. Moreover, O-Bank continues to implement a compensation system that is
linked to ESG performance targets, has launched a Gender Pay Equality Program, and
has taken steps to enhance its environmental protection and ethical management
policies. The company's overall management of material ESG issues is
strong."
O-Bank
Chairperson Tina Y. Lo stated: "O-Bank firmly believes that, in addition
to pursuing business growth, we must also use our power as a financial
institution and pay due attention to the need for positive ESG developments. O-Bank
is fortunate to receive this affirmation from Sustainalytics, and we intend to
employ a more rigorously constructed mechanism for management of sustainability
risk, continue optimizing our CSR measures, and ensure that companies achieve a
healthy co-existence with the natural environment and society. We want to exert
a positive influence."