OREANDA-NEWS. June 07, 2013. The Bank of East Asia (“BEA”) has issued its first standalone corporate social responsibility (“CSR”) report that follows the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (“GRI”).

GRI is a non-profit organisation that produces one of the world’s most widely used and recognised guidelines for sustainability reporting. BEA’s CSR Report for 2012 adheres to a self-declared Application Level C.

“This is our first standalone CSR report, and represents a crucial step in our journey to becoming a more sustainable business” says Dr. David K.P. Li, Chairman & Chief Executive of BEA. “It comes at a point when we are beginning to integrate CSR into our core business activities to ensure that we maximise the positive value created by our business for Hong Kong.”

In recent years, the Bank has focused on developing a more sophisticated CSR programme, beyond more conventional forms of support including donations, sponsorships, and staff volunteering. For instance, in 2008, BEA worked closely with the Hong Kong Council of Social Service to launch its innovative Online Donation Services, which help non-governmental organisations (“NGOs”) collect charitable donations online. In addition, the Bank offers a range of fee waivers and discounts for NGOs, senior citizens, and disadvantaged customers.

Both locally and worldwide, organizations are increasingly adopting standard guidelines in their CSR reporting. To ensure a consistent level of disclosure for its stakeholders and increase the transparency of its social responsibility commitment, BEA has chosen to begin issuing CSR reports that follow the GRI guidelines on an annual basis. While its first standalone report focuses on the Bank’s Hong Kong operations, BEA aims to issue Group-wide CSR Reports in the future.

BEA will also continue issuing a high level CSR report in its annual report, which it has done since 2007. BEA’s 2012 CSR Report has been printed in a limited quantity on Forest Stewardship Council-certified paper and is also available via the Bank’s website at www.hkbea.com (Corporate Information / Corporate Social Responsibility / CSR Report).