Standard Chartered supports clients fighting against COVID-19

Standard Chartered Bank China donated 1 million yuan (US$143,869) on January 28 to the Shanghai Charity Foundation for its special initiative to support disaster relief of novel coronavirus pneumonia. The donations will be used to purchase medical resources urgently needed in Hubei Province, including masks, suits and other protective supplies critical to the protection of doctors and nurses fighting the virus at hospitals in Wuhan.

Taking full advantage of its global network and financial expertise, segments in Standard Chartered are working together to join hands with clients in order to win the battle against the epidemic.

In corporate and institutional banking, a Chinese company made an urgent request to purchase resources overseas for fighting against coronavirus. Teams in China, Singapore and South Korea were fully mobilized to open a green channel to complete foreign currency exchange and cross-border payment transactions on the same day.

In commercial banking, its branches and departments in China are closely coordinated to address the financing demands of a medical equipment company in Wuhan, assisting in the purchase of blood collection tubes directly for frontline anti-epidemic hospitals. 

Foreseeing the potential financing needs of Chongqing Pharmaceutical (Group), the bank has arranged an urgent support of close to 100 million yuan and further provided a rate discount to its Hubei subsidiary company.

A relief measure program was also announced by commercial banking to ease clients’ near-term financial burden amidst the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. The bank will provide clients who are impacted by novel coronavirus an extension of eligible trade loans and short-term loans maturing between February 24 and March 31 with no additional fee or penalty interest.

In business banking, a number of measures are released to support small and medium-sized enterprises, who are more sensitive to capital costs during this special period. The measures cover multiple products including loan products, import-and-export total solutions, trade financing, as well as providing FX advice.