Shinhan Financial Group, First Asian Financial Company to Join VBA... Accelerates ESG Initiatives

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] Shinhan Financial Group announced on the 23rd that it has joined the 'VBA (Value Balancing Alliance),' a global corporate alliance developing the world's first global standard model for measuring the monetary value of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) among Asian financial companies.

VBA is a global private consortium launched in August 2019 that develops standards for monetization-based social value measurement. As of March this year, 18 global companies, including BASF from Germany, SK Group from Korea, and Novartis from Switzerland, are active members.

Additionally, VBA aims to develop value measurement standard models applicable to global ESG policy standards such as the OECD and the European Union (EU) Green Accounting Project, receiving policy advice from the OECD. To develop the measurement model, it is also collaborating with world-renowned universities such as Harvard in the U.S. and Oxford in the U.K.

Last year, Shinhan Financial became the first global financial company to develop the Shinhan Social Value Measurement Framework (SVMF), a model for measuring social value, to assess the value of ESG activities and select ESG activities with high social value. Recently, the social value measurement framework has been actively used to select financial support targets for new growth industries and job-creating companies.

Through joining VBA, Shinhan Financial plans to participate in developing the global standard model for ESG measurement. It also plans to further advance its social value measurement framework by incorporating the know-how related to social value measurement possessed by ESG-leading companies across various industries.

A Shinhan Financial Group official said, "Through VBA, we will participate in developing global standards with global leading companies and enhance the social value measurement framework, thereby further strengthening the Group's ESG business."

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