Sustainability shining through

[Standard Bank Team]

Standard Bank Group has once again been shortlisted for the FT/IFC Sustainable Finance Awards 2013.

These leading global awards are now in their eighth year and are the benchmark for financial institutions that have demonstrated dedicated and integrate environmental, social and corporate governance considerations into their operations. The awards are presented by Financial Times and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group (see www.ft-live.com/sustainablefinance).

At Standard Bank Group, we know that every choice we make has an impact, be it environmental, social or and economical. So we weigh the consequences of every business decision we make and look for opportunities that benefit our employees, customers and the communities we work with and in.

Embedding sustainability thinking and sustainable business practices at every level of business is paying dividends for both Standard Bank Group and our markets.

Our 2012 Sustainability Report demonstrates this:

· Prevented fraud to the value of R1.1-billion
· Created R60-billion in wealth
· Banked more than 661 000 small to medium enterprises across Africa
· Enabled Standard Bank South Africa to spend R125-million in corporate social investment
· Increased Standard Bank South Africa's Inclusive Banking customers to 6.2 million (2011: 5.4 million)
· Increased the number of women managers to 47% (2011: 46%)
· Increased training spend from R484-million in 2011 to R609-million in 2012
· Increased black representation at senior management level from 35% to 37%
· More than doubled the number of participants in leadership development programmes from 1 101 in 2011 to 2 498 in 2012
· Committed R9.4-billion to renewable energy projects in South Africa
· Enabled financing of 16 Equator Principle projects (2011: nine)
· Abated 19 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions through carbon financing.

Standard Bank Group's sustainability report provides evidence of how our strategy and our sustainability programmes are mutually reinforcing. View our 2012 Sustainability Report at www.standardbank.com/sustainability.