Standard Chartered Adopts ICC’s Sustainable Trade Finance Principles

Standard Chartered has announced adopting the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) recently published industry Principles for Sustainable Trade Finance.

The move makes Standard Chartered the first international bank to confirm its Sustainable Trade Finance solutions’ alignment with the recently announced global industry principles.

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In October 2024, ICC published a set of principles aimed at providing clear, transparent, and consistent guidelines to enable banks, corporates and investors to effectively channel capital towards sustainable and inclusive trade finance facilities.

“Standard Chartered first introduced its sustainable trade finance proposition in 2021, and as part of our efforts to support the creation of sustainable trade finance standards across the industry, we are pleased to adopt ICC’s principles,” said Sofia Hammoucha, Global Head of Trade & Working Capital at Standard Chartered. “We are committed to offering our clients innovative solutions that empower them to achieve their sustainability goals while effectively managing associated risks.

We applaud ICC for leading the way in setting the industry’s international guidelines and look forward to continuing our partnership with them to shape the future of sustainable trade finance globally.”

The ICC Principles provide a robust methodology for evaluating sustainable trade finance transactions. This includes a standardised approach for assessing use-of-proceeds in trade finance transactions, enhanced due diligence protocols for sustainability verification and unified reporting standards to ensure consistency across financial institutions.

Head of Sustainability at ICC, Raelene Martin, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Standard Chartered’s adoption of the ICC’s Principles for Sustainable Trade Finance, which marks an essential step in aligning the industry around the standard methodology for assessing sustainable trade finance. As one of the leading trade banks, Standard Chartered’s tremendous support is integral to our ongoing efforts to provide thought leadership and guidance that is fit for the purpose of the industry globally. We believe that the ICC Principles for Sustainable Trade Finance present an essential milestone in embedding sustainability at the heart of global trade practically and robustly.

We look forward to our continued partnership and expanding adoption of ICC’s guidance more broadly.”

Partner at BCG, Ravi Hanspal, said:” Accelerating sustainable trade is a critical enabler in decarbonising some of the world’s most complex supply chains. Unlike many other financial products, trade finance practitioners have not historically had a clear, consistent, and consensus definition of sustainable trade finance, limiting its application. The formal recognition and adoption of ICC’s Principles for Sustainable Trade Finance by a leading global financial institution is a huge step forward and is hopefully the first of many more.”