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Overview
About United Overseas Bank Limited
Creating Sustainable Value Across Our Franchise
Strategic Priorities
Chairman Emeritus’ Statement
Chairman’s Statement
Deputy Chairman and CEO’s Report
Board of Directors
Group Management Committee
Financial Highlights
Our Year In Review
Sustainability Approach
Customers
- Group Retail
- Group Wholesale Banking
- Global Markets
- Investment Management
Colleagues
Community
Environment
Investors
Regulators
Stakeholder Engagement
Sustainability Scorecard
Awards and Accolades
Governance
Corporate Governance
Remuneration
Risk Management
Capital Management
Pillar 3 Disclosure
Financial Report
Investor Reference
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Annual Report 2017
Stakeholder Engagement
Engaging Our Stakeholders
At UOB, we believe that constructive stakeholder engagement keeps us abreast of changes, attuned to possibilities and focused on remaining relevant to our stakeholders. It keeps us effective for the long term. This is essential for us to continue meeting the financial needs of our customers, developing meaningful careers for our people and making a difference in the communities in which we operate, in a manner distinctive of UOB.
We continually seek our stakeholders’ views, concerns and expectations through conversations, collaborative initiatives and research. By taking an inclusive approach, we hope they in turn will have a deeper understanding of our purpose, practices and performance. During the year, we also sought feedback from institutional investors and analysts on our material environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and efforts.
Stakeholders
What They Expect
How We Meet Their Expectations
How We Engaged Them in 2017
Our Goals for 2018
Customers
Fair products and services
Reasonable fees
Responsible financial advice
Secure transactions
Protection of data and privacy
Convenient access to products and services
Prompt service and resolution of complaints
Maintaining the highest professional and ethical standards in all our dealings with our customers
Focusing on both the personal and business financial needs of our customers when developing our products and services
Ensuring that our people are equipped and committed to advise and to act in the best interests of our customers
Providing our customers with clear and transparent information so that they can make informed financial decisions
Ensuring access to our banking products and services through our extensive network of customer touchpoints
Managing customer feedback independently, effectively and promptly
Ensuring the robustness of our monitoring and risk management systems to maintain a secure banking environment
Interactions at branches
Face-to-face meetings
Post-transaction surveys to seek feedback on their experience
Call centre service
Marketing and advertising campaigns
Website and social media campaigns and channels
Events and seminars
Continue frequency and quality of employee training sessions and workshops with sharper focus on service excellence and digitalisation
Extend reach of Customer Satisfaction, and Net Promoter Score surveys
Raise quality of customer interactions at all points of contact
Colleagues
Trust and respect
Career development
Job satisfaction and recognition
Fair employment practices
Competitive wages and benefits
Work-life harmony
Workplace well-being
Safe work environment
Creating a values-based organisational culture
Providing opportunities for training and development to build skills for the digital economy
Empowering our people to take ownership of their career paths
Enabling our colleagues Group-wide to be informed and engaged to contribute effectively
Promoting teamwork and supporting one another to achieve shared goals
Ensuring fair human resource policies are practised
Ensuring transparent and objective performance appraisals, and performance-based rewards and recognition
Providing flexible work arrangements
Enabling colleagues to give back to the community through volunteer initiatives
Offering health and wellness benefits
Maintaining workplace health and safety
Employee satisfaction survey
Regular town hall meetings
One-on-one sessions
Topical and regular communication to all staff from the CEO
Online and mobile employee portal with informative, collaborative and social features
HR policies and procedures
Periodic performance reviews
Training and workshops
Transparent communications between management and employees encouraged through an “open door” policy
Inter-departmental games and recreational activities
Employee volunteerism programmes
Job opportunities and support for people with disabilities
Continue frequent and regular engagement programmes across the Group through various communication channels
Implement initiatives and programmes that fulfil our employee value proposition
Ensure fair and equitable opportunities are open to all colleagues
Community
Employment opportunities
Good corporate citizenry
Responsible lending and investment
Encouraging strategic investments that drive economic growth and social development
Offering jobs to local talent
Giving back to society through corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes focused on art, children and education
Integrating ESG considerations into our risk assessment and credit decision processes
Participation in governments’ employment creation initiatives
Campus recruitment activities
Annual regional art competition
Partnerships with National Gallery Singapore, art patrons and voluntary welfare organisations
Art roadshows and outreach programmes
Art education programmes
University scholarships
Interest-free student loans
Financial literacy initiatives
Annual charity run/walk
Donations
Fundraising events
Client workshops including talks on environmentally-friendly recycling technologies
Use recruitment platforms to inform prospective hires and to attract talent
Deepen and broaden reach of our CSR programmes, building awareness, interest and engagement for areas under focus
Sharpen existing campaigns and initiatives on employee volunteerism and philanthropy
Conduct ESG training on responsible financing for relevant roles
Investors and Analysts
Stable and sustainable growth and profitability
Reasonable returns to shareholders
Preserving balance sheet strength through economic cycles
Responsible lending and investment
Strong corporate governance and transparency
Timely disclosures
Ensuring strong oversight and accountability by an experienced and competent Board and Management team
Adopting a disciplined and measured approach towards business risks and opportunities
Ensuring robust risk governance and management
Implementing responsible lending guidelines
Maintaining a robust corporate governance culture
Ensuring timely disclosure and reporting
More than 450 meetings with analysts and investors to share UOB’s corporate strategy, operational performance and business outlook
Quarterly results briefings
Feedback from institutional investors and ESG analysts on our sustainability efforts
Periodic meetings with rating agencies
General meetings with shareholders
Quarterly financial reports
Annual reports
SGXNet announcements
Presentations, conferences and roadshows
Annual Corporate Day
Ongoing feedback from analyst surveys
Maintain level of engagement with equity, fixed income and ESG-focused investment community, including investors, analysts and credit rating agencies, ensuring high standards of corporate governance, transparency and disclosure
Maintain regular dialogue sessions with the investment community and adhere to best practices in corporate governance
Governments and Regulators
Highest standards of corporate governance and ethical behaviour
Prevention of financial fraud and money laundering
Countering the financing of terrorism
Maintaining financial stability
Taxes to governments
Supporting the development of local economies and industry
Complying with applicable and current laws, regulations and policies
Maintaining sound risk management systems and processes
Preserving strong capital adequacy levels
Providing regular compliance training for our people
Conducting regular internal and external audits
Developing products and services for start-ups and small- and medium-sized enterprises
Regular meetings and engagement with local authorities
Consultations with regulatory bodies
Annual reports
Audit reports
Maintain robust
two-way engagement with regulators and industry bodies
Participate actively in consultation papers issued by regulators to help shape the regulatory framework
Improve data analytics and automation in compliance oversight tools in line with industry trends
Suppliers
Fair vendor selection process
Ethical conduct
Timely payment
Ensuring integrity in all purchasing decisions
Adhering to agreement terms
Requests for Quotations and Proposals
Vendor briefings
Purchase agreements
Annual reviews
Ensure understanding and compliance of sustainable procurement practices and standards
Media
Timely, topical and transparent information on subjects of relevance to the Bank, industry and the communities in which we operate
Prompt and accurate reporting of corporate news such as financial results
Access to senior executives with specific industry expertise for media interviews
Providing regular statements and briefings to update the media and the public on our initiatives and progress
Ensuring prompt and relevant responses to media queries
Ensuring the availability of our spokespeople on topics of relevance to the Group, industry and the communities in which we operate
Sharing thought leadership to demonstrate UOB’s insight into the markets and industries that we serve
News releases and media statements
Media conferences
Media briefings
Media interviews
Ongoing engagement sessions with media in person and online
Issuance of research reports and white papers
Maintain frequency and level of engagement with key media partners
Keep media abreast of news relevant to UOB’s stakeholders
Develop deeper understanding of
their mediums and constraints
Other Financial Institutions, and Industry and Trade Associations
Cooperation and collaboration in addressing the sustainability issues the financial services sector and other sectors face
Participating and contributing actively to industry-wide efforts to ensure the long-term sustainability of the financial services sector and sectors to which our clients belong
Membership, governance and committee positions in industry-wide projects
Participation in, and contribution to, industry-wide meetings and initiatives
Conferences and forums
Maintain active engagement to help shape the sustainability agenda and build industry capacity on ESG issues
Membership of Associations
In Singapore, where UOB’s headquarters is based, we are an active member of a number of industry associations. We hold governance or committee positions in associations such as The Association of Banks in Singapore, The Institute of Banking and Finance, Singapore Business Federation and Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
