South African Standard Bank can now call itself an Equator Principles Financial Institution, as it has adopted the ten “Equator Principles” of project finance designed to promote socially responsible and environmentally responsible practices in investment.

The Equator Principles are based on the International Finance Corporation performance standards on social and environmental sustainability, and on the World Bank Group’s environmental, health and safety guidelines that are applied internationally across all industry sectors by EPFI banks. The principles apply to all new project finance deals above $10 million.

“Adopting the Equator Principles is another step in Standard Bank’s commitment to environmental sustainability.  This set of principles allows us to ensure that we continue to remain focused on lending responsibly and supports the way in which we conduct our business with our customers across emerging markets, where we operate” said Ben Kruger, Standard’s chief operating officer.

“We have seen how important environmental and social factors can be in the success of our projects. Managing these factors has become increasingly complex and the Equator Principles give us a tested and consistent framework for doing so,” said Jonathan Wood, global head of project finance.

The Standard Bank Offshore Group has offices in Jersey, Isle of Man and Mauritius and provides a range of services for private and corporate clients including banking, wealth management, trust and company administration, asset management, investment services and fund administration. As at the end of June last year, it had total assets of about $178 billion.