Standard Chartered is a British banking group offering a wide range of products and services for personal and business clients. Standard Chartered operates in 68 countries.[1] At the end of 2017, Standard Chartered held USD54 billion (€ billion) in assets under management.[2]
Standard Chartered’s Defence Goods Policy Summary states: “Standard Chartered will not under any circumstances support the manufacture or distribution of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.”[3] The policy covers “the provision of finance and/or other non-financing services relating to the manufacture, distribution, marketing, trade, maintenance and disposal of goods.”[4] Correspondence with Standard Chartered indicates that the bank excludes entire companies, not only nuclear weapon related projects and transactions.[5]
The exclusion policy only applies to Standard Chartered’s commercial banking and investment banking activities. The policy is not applied to investments for Standard Chartered’s own account or to investments on behalf of third parties. The policy does not always exclude companies if a joint venture of that company is involved in nuclear weapons production.[6]
Standard Chartered does not make use of an exclusion list for its responsible investment screening.[7]
Standard Chartered was also found to have several investments in nuclear weapon producing companies identified by this report, more information can be found in the Hall of Shame.
We commend Standard Chartered for adopting a public policy on nuclear weapons. We recommend Standard Chartered apply its policy to all of its financial products, including investments for its own account and investments on behalf of third parties. Standard Chartered should also apply the policy to all nuclear weapons producing companies, including those involved in joint ventures. We look forward to engaging with Standard Chartered, so a strong and comprehensively applied policy may be listed in the Hall of Fame in a future update of this report.
[1] Standard Chartered, “Standard Chartered locations worldwide”, website Standard Chartered (https://www.sc.com/en/about-us/standard-chartered-worldwide/), viewed 23 January 2018
[2] Standard Chartered, “Annual Report 2016”, page 42, available at https://www.sc.com/en/resources/global-en/pdf/annual_reports/2016-annual-report.pdf, viewed 23 January 2018.
[3] Standard Chartered, “Defence Goods – Policy Summary”, available at https://www.sc.com/en/resources/global-en/pdf/sustainabilty/Group_defence-goods-policy-summary.pdf, viewed 23 January 2018.
[4] Standard Chartered, written response to PAX dated 11 June 2015.
[5] Standard Chartered, written response to Profundo dated 20 August 2014; Standard Chartered, written response to Profundo dated 6 August 2014; Standard Chartered, written response to PAX dated 11 June 2015.
[6] Standard Chartered, written response to PAX dated 11 June 2015.
[7] Standard Chartered, written response to PAX dated 11 June 2015.
Last updated March 2018