The Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards (AREA) 2023 is pleased to honor 78 outstanding business leaders and enterprises for championing sustainable and responsible business practices. Presented by leading regional NGO Enterprise Asia, the AREA is the most reputable award recognition program recognizing organizational efforts in creating a culture of compassion, integrity, and in being socially responsible corporate citizens. The AREA serves as a badge of excellence to spur further innovation and best-practice sharing for your organization and the world at large.
Philippine National Bank (PNB) was among the recipients who were conferred with the Corporate Governance and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Awards. Now on its 107th year in the Philippine banking industry, PNB has been serving the banking needs of its customers both locally and on a global scale.
For its Corporate Governance Award, PNB was recognized for subscribing to the highest standards of corporate governance, anchored on the belief that it supports long-term value creation. The company is committed to building an open and inclusive culture, and the bank recognizes the benefits of having a Board of Directors whose members possess diverse backgrounds and experiences. The current makeup of the Board reflects diversity in gender, age, knowledge, and skills.
PNB has also garnered various awards from external bodies. Its corporate governance program has been recognized for its adherence to the ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard (ACGS) and has allowed PNB to reap its fourth Golden Arrow award from the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) in 2023. Jointly developed by the Asian Development Bank and the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum, the ACGS is a set of questions developed in accordance with the corporate governance principles of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as well as the best corporate governance practices of major publicly listed companies in the ASEAN.
For its Corporate Sustainability Reporting Award, PNB was recognized for its strengthened efforts to make sustainability a part of its corporate DNA. The bank believes that sustainability should start from within and that the capacity of the bank to grow and sustain its business is contingent upon the quality of its human capital, the condition of its physical resources, the viability of its businesses, and the bank’s relationship with its customers, employees, shareholders, regulators, suppliers/vendors, outsourced personnel, third-party service providers, and external communities. Its sustainability footprint also extends to its products and services.
Over time, the bank has improved its reporting to cover various facets of its sustainability-related practices. Corporate sustainability reporting has not only been a tool to communicate efforts to stakeholders; it also serves as a tool for the bank to help assess or evaluate its sustainability performance and impact.
PNB is building its baseline data on its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. This will enable the bank to set realistic targets, manage its risks and impacts, as well as improve its sustainability initiatives. The bank also took it upon itself to include these data points in its annual sustainability reports and continues to improve its reporting every year.
Since 2020, in its Sustainability Report, PNB has been including the bank’s intention to assess and manage environmental risks and the impact associated with financing businesses, projects, or industry sectors. The bank also indicated in its reports that it will continue to improve its evaluation processes, particularly for existing loan accounts with high and medium E&S risks. Before collecting and consolidating ESG-related data, the bank conducts a kick-off meeting for the different groups to orient relevant people on the importance of reporting sustainability footprint to stakeholders. The guidelines, reporting templates, and deadlines are discussed in this meeting to ensure thoroughness and integrity in the data collection process for future reports and decision-making.
About Enterprise Asia
Enterprise Asia is a non-governmental organization in pursuit of creating an Asia that is rich in entrepreneurship as an engine toward sustainable and progressive economic and social development within a world of economic equality. Its two pillars of existence are investment in people and responsible entrepreneurship. Enterprise Asia works with governments, NGOs and other organizations to promote competitiveness and entrepreneurial development, in uplifting the economic status of people across Asia and in ensuring a legacy of hope, innovation and courage for the future generation. Please visit https://www.enterpriseasia.org/ for more information.
About Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards (AREA)
The Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards program recognizes and honors Asian businesses for championing sustainable and responsible entrepreneurship in the categories of Green Leadership, Investment in People, Health Promotion, Social Empowerment, Corporate Governance, Circular Economy Leadership, Corporate Sustainability Reporting, and Responsible Business Leadership. For more information, visit: https://enterpriseasia.org/area/.