King’s Town bank (2024)

King’s Town Bank – Equator Principles Implementation Overview

Governance Structure and Roles of Equator Principles Reviewers

King’s Town Bank became an official signatory of the Equator Principles (EPs) on December 1, 2022, and subsequently issued the “Equator Principles Financing Guideline” in 2023 to institutionalize internal procedures for managing EP-related credit cases. This framework establishes a cross-functional governance structure involving the following key actors:

• Business Units: Responsible for identifying whether a loan case falls under the EP scope, completing the Equator Principles Risk Check Form, collecting required documentation based on risk classification, and engaging in post-loan monitoring.

• Strategy and Operations Department: Confirms risk categorization in accordance with EPs and validates the completeness of submitted environmental and social (E&S) documents.

• Credit Assessment Committee: Reviews the E&S risk profile of EP transactions as part of the credit decision process.

• Compliance Department: Ensures that environmental and social commitment clauses are incorporated into loan agreements prior to disbursement.

EP applicability and risk levels are system-generated and embedded within the credit review workflow to ensure process consistency and transparency.

Integration into Credit and Risk Management Framework

The Equator Principles have been fully integrated into King’s Town Bank’s credit and risk management procedures. Specific measures include:

• Automated system screening to identify EP-applicable transactions;

• Risk-based documentation requirements aligned with the Equator Principles for project finance, project-related refinance, and acquisition finance cases;

• Risk classification results incorporated into credit review workflows and documentation checked for compliance by the Strategy and Operations Department;

• E&S considerations incorporated into credit approval decisions by the Credit Assessment Committee;

• Loan disbursement conditional upon the inclusion of EP-related environmental and social undertakings in contractual agreements.

Post-Loan Monitoring and Disclosure

For transactions classified as Category A or high-risk Category B, the internal system automatically triggers periodic reminders to business units to conduct ongoing monitoring. Clients are required to submit environmental and social monitoring reports every six months, which are reviewed and filed by the relevant business unit. These procedures support post-disbursement risk tracking and compliance oversight.

King’s Town Bank also complies with the annual EPFI disclosure requirements, submitting relevant data to the Equator Principles Association by June each year and publishing implementation progress and case summaries on its ESG disclosure platform.

Staff Training and Capacity Building

Recognizing that robust internal capacity is critical to effective EP implementation, King’s Town Bank has institutionalized climate and sustainability education across all levels. As part of our ongoing commitment, the Bank has implemented mandatory annual e-learning on sustainable finance for all employees, with a minimum of three hours per person per year, to enhance awareness of ESG-related risks, financial opportunities, and compliance requirements. Specialized workshops and function-specific training are also conducted for credit and risk teams to deepen expertise in EP due diligence and risk evaluation