Taiwan – Finance and banking sector

Appendix 1: Concrete actions taken by Taiwan to fulfill the state obligation to protect

• Promotion of corporate social responsibility (page 27)

‘The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) has issued the “Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation Rules Governing the Preparation and Filing of Corporate Social Responsibility Reports by TWSE Listed Companies,” and the Taipei Exchange (TPEx) has issued the “Taipei Exchange Rules Governing the Preparation and Filing of Corporate Social Responsibility Reports by TPEx Listed Companies.” If a listed company is in any of the following circumstances, it shall prepare and file a corporate social responsibility report in Chinese according to these Rules: (a) the company is in the food industry, chemical industry, or financial industry; (b) no less than 50 percent of the company’s total operating revenue is derived from food and beverages; or (c) the company’s capital stock is not less than NT$5 billion. A listed company to which the above descriptions apply shall prepare a corporate social responsibility report for the preceding year, making reference to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards and the Sector Disclosure documents issued by the GRI.’

 

Appendix 2: Concrete actions taken by Taiwan to ensure respect by businesses for human rights

• Governments can provide information and support to enterprises. The Taiwan government has implemented several regulations and measures to provide enterprises with guidance and support, including the following: (page 32)

‘…On November 6, 2017, the Executive Yuan approved the “Green Finance Action Plan” proposed by the Financial Supervisory Commission. This Plan encourages banks to adopt the Equator Principles (EPs) for international benchmarking. The EPs provide a risk management framework for assessing and managing the environmental and social risks of projects.’

• In order to strengthen enterprises’ CSR implementation and enhance human rights awareness, the Taiwanese government and civil society have implemented a number of support measures, including the following: (pages 32-33)

‘…The Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy has launched the Taiwan Sustainability Value Index (TWSVI). The TWSVI uses economic, environmental, social, disclosure, and sustainability evaluations to select company stocks that have both financial and long-term sustainability value.

The Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy cooperates with the government to … help enterprises to comply with the “Principles for Responsible Banking” and the recommendations of the “Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures.”

[…]

In addition, in order to promote the development of a sustainable investment environment, TWSE subsidiary Taiwan Index Plus Corporation and FTSE Russell jointly released the “FTSE4Good TIP Taiwan ESG Index,” the first ESG index that fully integrates environmental, social, corporate governance, and financial indicators in Taiwan.

The Taipei Exchange and the Taiwan Index Plus Corporation have joined forces with the Taiwan Business Council for Sustainable Development to collaborate in developing the TIP Taiwan TPEx CSR Index, which selects component stocks on the basis of whether the issuing companies satisfy certain CSR performance criteria. The Index thus encourages companies to take their CSR obligations seriously and to fulfill them. We also hope to see companies issue ETFs, ETNs, index warrants, index funds, and other index products that would provide investors new channels via which to take part in socially responsible investing.

Industry associations and companies also voluntarily propose or follow many relevant international standards, including the following:

In order to ensure CSR implementation in the financial industry, the Bankers Association of the ROC in 2014 adopted credit guidelines with reference to the spirit of the “Equator Principles,” addressing such matters as environmental protection, ethical business practices, and social responsibility.’