Corporate Social Responsibility and Community initiatives

Corporate Social Responsibility is an integral part of Standard Chartered's ambition to become the world's best international bank. The Bank believes in delivering shareholder value in a socially, ethically an environmentally responsible manner. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the mainstay of the Bank's values.

Know Your Customer

In early March 2003 the Bank, as part of Standard Chartered Group initiative, launched the project to implement Know Your Customer (KYC) by developing new risk based standards relating to information that we need to maintain on our customers. The objective of this initiative was to understand the drivers of our customer's business that would enable us to develop highly customised and effective solutions for them. It also links into the global drive to stamp out risk of money laundering. We are the first bank in Nepal to have adopted these policies and procedures designed to protect us from doing business with customers involved in undesirable activities.

Standard Chartered Bank and the Community

Standard Chartered throughout its long history has played an active role in supporting those communities in which its customers and staff live. It concentrates on projects that assist children, particularly in the areas of health and education. Environmental projects are also occasionally considered. It supports non-governmental organisations involving charitable community activities The Group launched 2 major initiatives in 2003 under its 'Believing in Life' campaign- 'Living with HIV/AIDS' and 'Seeing is Believing'

Living with HIV/AIDS

In Nepal the Living with HIV program has been communicated to all staff in the Bank and further shared with the community. This has been shared and appreciated by students of many colleges, Manpower recruiting agencies etc. The Bank has also partnered various organizations- NGOs (Save the Children UK), FNCCI to share its thought leadership on the subject, it's policy and workplace program on HIV/AIDS. Further caring for people suffering from HIV/AIDS the Bank and the staff have established recreation rooms, donated food clothes, toys, books and other recreational material to centers homing people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAIDS).
The Bank has also sponsored education and living expenses of two LWHIV children at Maiti Nepal for three years and upgraded the laboratory of Maiti Nepal, shelter home for orphan and trafficked girls, with new facilities.

Seeing is Believing

Seeing is Believing is one of Standard Chartered Group's major community initiatives under the Believing in Life campaign launched in 2003 with the aim to make a real difference to the problem of blindness around the world. The Bank's target to raise enough funds for 1 million sight restorations by 2006 has been already met one year ahead. The new fundraising target has been set for 10 Million sight restoration by 2010.
In partnership with Sight Savers International and Vision 2020- the international body for the elimination of avoidable blindness- Standard Chartered has identified 15 flagship projects in 20 countries. The funds collected will go towards cataract operations, training of eye care doctors, building of training facilities and vision centers.
Under this program the Bank and staff in Nepal have been instrumental in restoring sight to about 2500 people in Nepal through eye camps conducted in remote places by Tilganga Eye Center and eye hospitals in Bhairahawa, Janakpur, Pokhara, Birtanagar and outskirts of Kathmandu valley. For this the Bank and staff have made contributions personally and conducted activities like walk-a-thon to raise funds and awareness.

Youth-Education

The Bank has sponsored education for Tharu girls in the Dang district under the Kamlarni Scholarship Programme being executed by an NGO, Friends of Needy Children. Under the Village School-College Students Scholarship Project - Nepal, (VISCOSS-Nepal) program we have continued our scholarships to 15 needy and deserving students (including both boys & girls) of class 7 to class 10 of Shree Mahendra Shanti High School (SMSHS) in Balkot, Bhaktapur.

Donation of computers

The Bank has continued to support education for needy children by donation of computers to many needy organizations, especially to government schools where the financial condition of the school and the children is weak. Computer education in these schools was made possible only due to these computers donated by the Bank.

One step forward towards the Environmental Conservation

CSR includes management discipline, so implementing the Bank's Environmental and Social Risk Policy we are courageous enough to turn down deals if they impact the environment, society or the community adversely.
Each staff of the Bank has to undergo a computer based environment awareness-training program

In this area the Bank has taken the following other initiatives:

• Follows good office practices - keeping our offices and its surroundings clean, conserving nature by conserving paper (printing only when required, double side printing) fuel and electricity (practice of switching off lights, A/Cs etc. when not in office).
• Organized community programs to increase awareness and the importance of keeping the environment Clean & Green.
• Supported the Green Circle program launched by WEPCO for adoption of environmentally friendly office practices by private sector, mainly focusing on recycling of waste paper.
• Partnered a project for restoration of world heritage sight at Kathmandu Durbar Square.
• Supporting/sponsoring projects working for nature conservation.
• Constructed a beautiful welcome gate near the International Airport.

The Bank has also provided contributions in various other forms.The employees and the Bank in Nepal collected a donation of Rs. 150,000.00, for the Tsunami victims which to the SCB Tsunami Relief Fund in India and to the orphans of Sri Lanka through the Care Nepal office.
The Bank also donated a sum of NPR. 500,001 to the PM's Disaster Relief Fund when the country was struck with devastating floods and landslides. The staff of the Bank also handed over the immediate relief materials to Nepal Cross Society, Central office in Kathmandu for the disaster victims.