ASTRO AWANI – 10/6/2021

Bank Pembangunan featured in global responsible banking report

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KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd (BPMB) has been featured in the global responsible banking report by the Islamic Finance Council UK (UKIFC), in partnership with Malaysia-based International Shariah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA) and the Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI).

In a statement today, BPMB said the report provides an analysis of responsible banking in the Islamic finance sector, assessing the level of engagement with the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) among banks in Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states and analysing the approaches used by nine Islamic finance signatories.

It also features notes from interviews from various leading financial institutions from all around the world, such as Al Baraka Banking Group, Gatehouse Bank, Gulf International Bank (UK) and Jaiz Bank which have all shown notable leadership in responsible banking.

Launched in 2019, the PRB is the world's leading framework for responsible banking, underpinned by six principles that help signatory banks align with the United Nation's (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement, BPMB said, adding that it became a PRB signatory in May 2020.

"As one of Malaysia's leading development financial institutions, we are honoured to be featured in this report as this signals our commitment to the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) Principles for Responsible Banking.

"This is in line with our focus to support the nation's progress through digitalisation, sustainability andinclusivity. Being sector agnostic, we will continue to assess our projects and ensure they positively impact the people, environment and national development," said BPMB president/group chief executive officer, Arshad Mohamed Ismail.

Meanwhile, UKIFC's board member, Omar Shaikh said that Islamic finance is naturally aligned with the SDGs.

"Through our Global Islamic Finance and SDGs Taskforce, we have the platform to work with UNEP FI and PRB signatories to increase awareness, promote understanding and encourage adoption of the principles among the Islamic finance sector," he said.