Shinhan commited to ‘compassionate finance’

Shinhan Financial Group, the nation’s leading financial group by net profit, hopes to continue sharing its expertise in corporate social responsibility as part of its long-term vision.

According to the company’s annual CSR Report 2013, which details its social contribution achievements over the past year, Shinhan Financial Group highlighted the importance of what it calls compassionate finance.

The mission includes the group’s nine key CSR strategies and principles, as well as activities and results.

The top goal, according to the report, is to build a win-win relationship ― both for customers and the company ― by protecting the customers’ rights and personal information.

Its social contribution activities are largely classified under three themes: coexistence for the socially disadvantaged, sympathy for preserving traditional values, and symbiosis for protecting the natural environment.

This year’s report differs from the past versions as it stresses the importance of basic human rights, as well as global CSR guidelines such as GRI G4 and ISO26000, officials said.

It also includes the group’s internal human rights declaration, which expresses support for the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

As a result of such human-centric efforts, Shinhan Financial last year became the first Korean financial unit to join the Dow Jones Sustainability Index World.

Shinhan’s annual CSR report was launched in 2009 as an extended version of Shinhan Bank’s CSR report, and it was the first CSR report to be issued by a financial group.

The report, published both in Korean and English, can be seen on the group’s website (www.shinhangroup.com) and at the offices of its key branches.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)