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Cathay United BankTaiwan, Republic of China

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Last update: 2024-06-28 00:00:00
Cathay United Bank head office. Photo: Solomon203 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY SA 3.0)

Active

This profile is actively maintained
Last update: 2024-06-28 00:00:00
Bank info
BankTrack campaigns
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About
Website http://www.cathaybk.com.tw
Headquarters
1F no 7, Songren Road 110
Taipei City
Taiwan, Republic of China
CEO/chair Andrew Ming-Jian Kuo
Chairman
Supervisor
Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
Ownership

Cathay United Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cathay Financial Holdings, the largest financial holding company in Taiwan. Cathay Financial Holdings' shareholder structure can be accessed here.

Cathay United Bank was formerly the United World Chinese Commercial Bank (UWCCB), which was founded in 1975. In 2003, UWCCB merged with the former Cathay Commercial Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cathay Financial Holding Company. The merged bank was renamed to Cathay United Bank. Cathay United Bank is one of the largest commercial banks in Taiwan, and operates more than 160 bank branches throughout Taiwan. Its primary target markets include Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam and the United States. Cathay United Bank adopted the Equator Principles in March 2015.

Sustainability
Commitments
Policies
Voluntary standards

Cathay United Bank's most important sustainability commitments can be found at the website sections listed below.

Cathay United Bank mentions on its website that it was "the first bank in Taiwan to adopt the U.N. Principles for Responsible Banking in December 2018", but the bank is not listed as as a signatory on the UNEP-FI Principles for Responsible Banking website.

Links

Corporate sustainability

Rules & Policies

Cathay Financial Holdings has several bank policies in place which must be followed by all its subsidiaries, including Cathay United Bank.

Responsible lending

Bank policy
2023-07-30 00:00:00 | Cathay FHC

Corporate Sustainability Principles

Bank policy
2023-03-09 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

Human rights policy

Bank policy
2022-05-13 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

Responsible Investment and Lending Policy

Bank policy
2022-05-13 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

Investment and Lending Exclusion Policy

Bank policy
2022-05-13 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

Environmental and energy policy

Bank policy
2019-10-04 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

Sustainable procurement policy

Bank policy
2019-10-04 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

Engagement policy

Bank policy
2018-05-30 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings
Cathay United Bank has committed itself to the following voluntary standards:
Carbon Disclosure ProjectTags: carbon | climate change | greenhouse gas emissions
Equator PrinciplesTags: Equator Principles | project finance | corporate social responsibility | sustainable development
Global Reporting InitiativeTags: sustainable development | human rights
Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB)Tags: climate change | corporate social responsibility | finance | sustainable development | United Nations | Voluntary Standards
Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)Tags: corporate social responsibility | sustainable development | United Nations
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)Tags: corporate social responsibility | finance
United Nations Global CompactTags: United Nations | human rights
Dodgy Deals

Cathay United Bank is linked to a number of companies and projects that BankTrack considers controversial (so called Dodgy Deals), e.g. as a current or past financier or through an expression of interest. The profiles below provide more details on the nature of Cathay United Bank's link to these deals.

Projects / Companies
Finance type
Year
News
BankTrack
Partners
Blog
External
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Major ‘coal banks’ refuse to stop financing coal power boom in Asia

To stop a wave of new coal development across Asia, the End Coal Finance coalition is asking likely financiers to pledge not to back new coal power projects.
2024-11-14 | Nijmegen | BankTrack, Inclusive Development International, Recourse
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

New BankTrack Equator Principles reporting tracking tool launched

2020-09-21 | BankTrack
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Equator Principles: New BankTrack database sheds light on patchy project name reporting

BankTrack publishes database of Equator-financed projects, together with analysis showing some banks report few or no project names – notable poor performers include ING, HSBC and Lloyds
2020-06-29 | BankTrack
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Global finance sector failing to apply conservation criteria to pulp and paper funding

2020-03-21 | New York/Amsterdam | Environmental Paper Network
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

The Chain: Paradise Papers Links APRIL’s Tax Avoidance to Deforestation and Banks, Could Impact USD 500 Million Loan

2017-11-16 | Chain Reaction Research
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Financiers of pulp and paper industry projects will cause environmental and social harm, says new report

2017-08-01 | Mandy Haggith – Environmental Paper Network
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

APRIL signed a USD 265 million loan agreement

2014-04-25 | Reuters China
Resources
Documents
Links

Annual report 2023

Annual report
2024-07-02 00:00:00 | Cathay United Bank

Responsible lending

Bank policy
2023-07-30 00:00:00 | Cathay FHC

Annual report 2022

Annual report
2023-06-06 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

CSR report 2022

Annual report
2023-05-09 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

Corporate Sustainability Principles

Bank policy
2023-03-09 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

CSR report 2021

Annual report
2022-06-07 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

Human rights policy

Bank policy
2022-05-13 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

Responsible Investment and Lending Policy

Bank policy
2022-05-13 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

Investment and Lending Exclusion Policy

Bank policy
2022-05-13 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

Annual report 2021

Annual report
2022-05-03 00:00:00 | Cathay United Bank

Annual report 2020

Annual report
2021-05-04 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

Annual report 2019

Annual report
2020-09-29 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

CSR report 2019

Annual report
2020-09-29 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

Environmental and energy policy

Bank policy
2019-10-04 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

Sustainable procurement policy

Bank policy
2019-10-04 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

Annual report 2018

Annual report
2019-07-31 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

CSR report 2018

Annual report
2019-07-31 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

Engagement policy

Bank policy
2018-05-30 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

Annual report 2017

Annual report
2018-03-31 00:00:00 | Cathay United Bank

CSR report 2017

Annual report
2018-03-31 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

Letter from 30 Indonesian NGOs to PT RAPP financiers on current situation of PT RAPP (APRIL's main supplier)

Correspondence
2017-11-24 00:00:00 | 30 Indonesian NGOs

Green Paper, Red lines

Chinese version
BankTrack publication
2016-09-01 00:00:00 | BankTrack

Green Paper, Red Lines

Requirements for pulp and paper industry finance
BankTrack publication
2016-06-02 00:00:00 | BankTrack, Environmental Paper Network

Corporate Sustainability Report 2015

Annual report
2016-01-31 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

2015 Annual Report

Annual report
2016-01-31 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

Cathay FHC 2014 Corporate Sustainability Report

Annual report
2015-11-13 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

2014 Annual Report

Annual report
2015-08-04 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

2013 Corporate Sustainability Report

Annual report
2014-10-13 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings

Annual Report 2013

Annual report
2014-07-28 00:00:00 | Cathay Financial Holdings
Accountability
Grievances

Cathay United bank does not have a complaints or grievances channel for individuals or communities that might have been affected by the bank's finance.

Cathay United Bank is an Equator Principles signatory. While the Equator Principles have no official grievance mechanism, complaints relating to this bank's financing of Equator Principles projects can be filed through our own website www.equator-complaints.org.

This page evaluates Cathay United Bank's responses to instances of alleged human rights violations linked to its finance, raised by civil society organisations. It is not intended to be exhaustive, but covers selected impacts raised by BankTrack and other civil society partners since 2016. For the full scoring methodology, see here. For more information about BankTrack's evaluation of bank responses to human rights impacts, see the 2021 report "Actions speak louder: assessing bank responses to human rights violations".

Impacts reviewed
Responded?
Total score
Response
Action
Monitoring

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Banks and Climate

Banks and Climate

Partner organisation Reclaim Finance tracks the coal, oil and gas policies of financial institutions, including banks, in their Coal Policy Tool (CPT) and the Oil and Gas Policy Tracker (OGPT). BankTrack works closely with Reclaim Finance and endorses their policy assessments. Find further details on their assessment of Cathay United Bank’s fossil fuel policy below.

Assessment of Cathay United Bank's coal policy in the Coal Policy Tool