The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd., India is committed to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and demonstrates this by contributing to the economic and social development of the communities and safeguarding the environment. While these two components are universal and will be at the centre of most sustainability initiatives, there are various components which make up this huge canvas. The bank's community investments (CI) are focused on two core themes:
Within Promoting Education our focus is particularly on:
Within the Environmental Sustainability our focus is particularly on:
The Executive Committee (EXCO) of the bank is responsible for the development and funding of programmes/projects/activities - that support communities in which they operate; and are in adherence to the provisions of the Companies Act and the CSR Rules there under.
The bank will undertake such CSR programmes/projects/activities as approved by the EXCO and as recommended by the CSR Committee of the EXCO. The EXCO should approve the following:
The EXCO will ensure that any unspent/unutilised CSR budget of a particular year will not form part of the business profit of the bank.
The EXCO will ensure programme/project/activity selection is made after a sensible assessment of the prospective beneficiaries' standing, that potential risks have been identified and the relationship is aligned with the bank's CSR focus.
Community investments should bring a lasting benefit to local communities, motivate staff through opportunities for direct voluntary involvement and focus primarily on promoting education or environmental sustainability.
While supporting Environmental Sustainability, environmental initiatives can be aligned to the HSBC Group's flagship programmes (e.g. The HSBC Water Programme).
The CSR Committee will adhere to the due diligence guidelines (as approved by the EXCO) and undertake due diligence appropriate to the size and nature of the proposed relationship when electing to partner with an NGO. Due consideration will also be given to whether it is appropriate to formalise the prospective arrangement in documentation (i.e. Memorandum of Understanding).
All CSR projects should:
The bank will establish appropriate, transparent mechanisms for the management of community investments. The following process will be followed for making a community investment:
To ensure that decisions over the disbursement of community investment funding are subject to appropriate management control, to facilitate consistency with the objectives of the business as a whole, compliance with appropriate tax and other legal and regulatory obligations, including the UK Bribery Act 2010, and ensure relevance to genuine community needs - all disbursements should be through members of the CSR Committee or such other person authorized by the EXCO, who have read and understood the policy.
Potential conflict of interest that may arise when a member of the EXCO or the CSR Committee or CSR Function has a direct interest in a not-for-profit organisation in question, must be avoided. Such conflict of interest should be avoided by a declaration of interest by the concerned individual to the EXCO.
Where HSBC executives join the Board of a not-for-profit to improve the governance and oversight over its activities, they should absent themselves from any decision to fund the organisation.
Requests made by customers to provide fund support to not-for-profits should be refused. Similarly, community investments should not be made in order to maintain or enhance any customer relationship.
The CSR Committee is responsible for gathering information on the social and environmental impact of programmes and projects undertaken. 'Output' and 'impact' measures will be monitored for all major programmes and projects. The CSR Committee will ensure that the non-profit partners monitor and report on the outputs and impacts of their projects. Projects will be monitored through: half yearly progress reports, annual reports along with fund utilisation reports (as per format approved by the EXCO) and field visits of programmes/projects.
The EXCO will ensure that all activities are reported at the end of each financial year (starting 2015) as required under provision of the Act.
Engaging employees in community investment programmes is an opportunity to ensure that our investments are maximised, that HSBC staff are present to monitor progress, and to see that funds contributed are used for the purpose for which they have been given.
Each global business and function should offer a minimum of one-day paid employee volunteer leave per year and establish policies and programmes which guide and support employees wishing to contribute to projects in their local community.
In case of any doubt with regard to any provision of the CSR Policy and also in respect of matters not covered herein, a reference should be made to the Board. In all such matters, the interpretation and decision of the EXCO will be final.
Any or all provisions of the CSR Policy will be subject to revision/amendment in accordance with the guidelines on the subject as may be issued from Government, from time to time.
The EXCO reserves the right to modify, cancel, add or amend the CSR Policy.