In an industry often critiqued for lagging on sustainability, Bank of Singapore is rewriting the playbook. The private banking arm of OCBC Group has emerged as a trailblazer in embedding environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles into private banking.
At the heart of its strategy lies Spring – the world’s first sustainability framework tailored for private banks; an innovation born from an alliance with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Singapore and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS).
Private banking’s unique dynamics – client privacy, bespoke investment strategies and a focus on wealth preservation – have long made ESG integration challenging. Traditional tools designed for commercial banks or asset managers often fall short.
“The privacy, customisation and risk tolerance of the high-net-worth (HNW) individuals which we deal with are unique,” explains Sylvain Richer de Forges, sustainability lead within corporate strategy management at Bank of Singapore. “These individuals have interests leaning towards investments (not financing). And that’s exactly what we try to capture in developing these guidelines.”
You can't just throw products at clients. Some still equate ESG with charity. We have to show it's about risk mitigation and portfolio resilience in the long-run
The journey began in 2021 when Bank of Singapore collaborated with WWF, initially testing a generic sustainability assessment tool provided by WWF.
