Hatton National Bank

2019

Top Workplaces In Asia

Hatton National Bank

Top Workplaces In Asia

2019

WORDS FROM THE JURY PANEL

Sustainability has been and continues to be at the very core of Hatton National Bank’s corporate DNA. The Bank has been able to elevate this value from idealism into a holistic and cohesive component of its long-term corporate strategies, which in turn is reflective of its broader national and social priorities.

Words from the winner

Hatton National Bank

Prosperity For All

Hatton National Bank’s policies impact every level of society positively.

Hatton National Bank (HNB) is a premier private sector commercial bank operating in Sri Lanka with 251 branches spread across the island. The bank has been internationally recognized by the Asian Banker Magazine as the Best Retail Bank in Sri Lanka on ten occasions from 2007 to 2017. The Banker Magazine, UK, named HNB Bank of the Year in 2012, 2013 and 2017. HNB is also placed among The Banker’s Top 1000 banks in the world. The financial institution is actively involved in retail banking, corporate banking, international banking, treasury and project financing. In 2012 HNB became the first Sri Lankan bank to obtain an international credit rating and was assigned a foreign currency issuer rating of B1 on par with the sovereign rating by Moody’s Investors Service.

Sustainability is at core of the bank’s corporate strategy. HNB is committed to serving all strata of society and through careful customer segmentation provides financial access and services across the continuum of socio-demographic groups. By integrating social responsibility into core business processes and stakeholder management, the bank recognizes its ability to achieve the ultimate goal of creating both social value and corporate value. Key sustainability focus areas include investments in the empowerment of entrepreneurs, the championing of education (school library and ‘model school’ initiatives), health (provision of safe drinking water and sanitation to communities in need), and the environment (tree planting, e-waste campaigns).

For three decades, HNB has diligently cultivated partnerships with a range of small businesses, providing them with access to finance as well as financial and technical expertise. The bank’s goal is to help them create viable businesses, while laying a foundation to scale up their growth, and over time, create the ideal conditions for a thriving micro SME sector. To this end the bank organizes Gami Pubuduwa Avurudu Pola, a two-day exhibition/goods fair enabling rural micro entrepreneurs to market their products in the capital city, providing the public and commercial customers the opportunity to source artisanal goods whose sale benefits small scale entrepreneurs.

The bank’s collective commitment to reducing its environmental footprint is put in practice through the Green Pledge, a promise by every HNB employee to integrate environmentally friendly practices to daily operations. The Pledge, now in its tenth year, promotes awareness and an eco-consciousness among employees, while serving as a framework for environmentally viable activities and regulatory environmental standards. To this end HNB practices paperless office initiatives, with digitization and solar panel installations helping to reduce energy consumption. HNB buildings are also mostly structured towards energy efficiency, with the bank having converted four of its buildings in Jaffna Metro, Kalmunai, Nitambuwa, and Colombo to LEEDS certified green buildings.

HNB also promotes projects and activities that contribute to a greener economy in Sri Lanka by being in the forefront of lending to the renewable power sector. In 2017 HNB was the lead arranger to a syndicated loan of Rs 9 billion towards the construction of a 10MW waste to-energy power plant that will contribute to the national grid through the conversion of between 500-700 metric tonnes of garbage into energy – a first of its kind project, in the country. The personal loan scheme for the installation of solar energy systems continued to gain traction with almost 86 loans being granted through the scheme up to end 2018.