International banking group Standard Chartered says it is committed to supporting clients, and the communities in which it operates, both through the current pandemic crisis and the longer-term support and renewal phase.
It has announced a number of measures to provide support.
This includes $1-billion in financing for companies that provide goods and services to help the fight against Covid-19, and those planning the switch into making products that are in high demand to fight the global pandemic.
“We are seeing high demand for funding and have already approved over $75-million of facilities in the first week,” the group points out.
It has also put in place a comprehensive support scheme for retail and business customers, including loan repayment holidays, fee waivers or cancellations and loan extension facilities.
The group also has a $50-million global fund to provide assistance to those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
It will immediately donate $25-million to support emergency relief in its most affected markets. The additional $25-million will be raised from bank colleagues and directors, matched by the group, to help communities to recover from the economic impact of the virus.
Moreover, the CEO and group CFO will make “significant” personal donations to the Covid-19 assistance fund; while the group chairperson, members of the board, and the management team will also make personal donations.
In addition, the group CEO and group CFO will voluntarily forego any entitlement to a cash bonus in respect of this year's performance.
The remuneration committee has committed to ensuring that decisions regarding 2020 remuneration will be taken in light of the group’s overall performance and the challenges faced by the group’s various stakeholders resulting from the spread of Covid-19.
Standard Chartered is also providing support for its colleagues across the group, with no colleagues having been asked to leave the bank owing to the impact of Covid-19, and the bank having no intention to make any layoffs as a result of the pandemic.
“We have not furloughed any of our 84 000 colleagues across 59 markets, all of whom are working hard to support our clients and customers,” the group states.