Enabling Sustainability as The Nexus of ESG Finance

View the key highlights at GAIL 2023, as STACS was invited to the sustainability forum, joining experts, green companies, and a keynote from Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat to discuss the actions needed to best drive global decarbonisation. Find out more about what is needed to scale ESG for impact, and transition from a brown to green economy.

ESGpedia launches in the Philippines, as part of the Sustainable Finance Institute Asia SAFE initiative. The partnership aims to support corporate sustainability and simplify ESG data reporting for businesses and issuers in the Philippines.

The first step to corporate sustainability is awareness and an understanding of the company’s own carbon footprint. To help companies in Vietnam embark on corporate sustainability and develop plans towards greenhouse gas reduction, Bamboo Capital has partnered with ESGpedia on capacity building for companies in the region, to help them gain insights into their Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by filling up a simple self-assessment. The partnership also aims to bring greater transparency to the RECs market in ASEAN.

What are ESG ratings? How can data and technology paint a more useful picture of ESG performance? Take a deep dive into ESG ratings and explore how primary ESG data housed in a standardised digital registry, enables better ESG risk management and decision-making.

In collaboration with International Accreditation Forum & Quality Trade, ESGpedia is today helping corporates manage supply chain sustainability by ensuring that suppliers hold accredited ISO certifications. With Maxeon Solar Technology onboard as a corporate representative, the collaboration supports Maxeon in ensuring that suppliers within its supply chain meet Maxeon’s corporate sustainability requirements of being ISO-compliant, simplifying Maxeon’s supplier screening and monitoring process.

STACS unveiled the ESCAP Sustainable Business Network (ESBN) Green Deal digital assessment at the United Nations Conference Centre, following roundtables with prominent leaders from United Nations Global Compact Thailand, City Developments Limited, Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, Kasikornbank, UOB Thailand, Asian Development Bank, & more. The digitalised and simplified self-assessment lowers the barriers to sustainability for corporates and SMEs, accelerating climate action in Asia. Read on for key takeaways and how your business can attain the ESBN Green Deal badge to showcase its commitment to sustainability.

What are Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) and how do they work? For companies looking to offset their energy sources, RECs are an alternative way to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and cut GHG emissions. Explore the comprehensive guide to RECs to delve deeper into the benefits, challenges, processes, and how ESGpedia can aid businesses in enhancing transparency of RECs lifecycle.

Covering over 5 million sustainability disclosure data points, the latest platform combines harmonised ESG data, solutions and analytics, and assessment tools that help financial institutions, corporates, and SMEs embark on sustainability. The latest ESGpedia's solutions were showcased at STACS's industry event on 23 May 2023, led by several partners including MUFG Bank, UOB, Maxeon Solar Technologies, and Teo Garments, as they highlighted use cases of ESGpedia enabling data-driven sustainability across various sectors.

Why should businesses pursue sustainability certifications and which certifications are best suited for each industry? Also discover how ESGpedia’s free Data Dictionary tool helps digitalise and streamline the process for companies intending to embark on their sustainability journey, with a clear overview of Certification Bodies, Assurance Partners, and Data Partners, broken down accordingly by sectors and regions. Learn all you need to know through our comprehensive guide.

Large corporates were fined million of dollars last year due to ESG misstatements investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Governmental bodies are set to enforce clearer sustainability policies, and China is no exception, as they are already on track to mandating ESG disclosures. Discover how to stay ahead of tightening governmental regulations, and use existing ESG data and tools to support your business to a low-carbon transition. Get exclusive first access to our digital corporate disclosure for SMEs, coming soon in May 2023.

As a local issuer of the Thailand Voluntary Emission Reduction Program (T-VER) carbon credits under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, TGO will explore utilising STACS’s ESGpedia registry to prevent double counting of T-VER carbon credits and promote access to information for international investors, enhancing adoption and accelerating GHG emission reduction towards the country’s carbon neutrality goal. 

Real estate companies are set to face reduced funding opportunities if they don't comply with sustainable practices, as financiers are increasingly favouring sustainable green buildings. On the other hand, Singapore is on track to becoming the greenest city by 2030, and is set to achieve 80% of green buildings by 2030. Learn more about green building certifications and regulations, as well as how technology can empower Corporates, SMEs, and Financial Institutions to jointly attain sustainable real estate.

The transportation and logistics sector is one of the largest contributors to GHG emissions. Yet, it is a sector that traditionally lacks green certification and harmonised sustainability reporting standards. The partnership aims to enable companies in the sector to build resilience and transition to sustainability, through certifications for green freight practices through GFA and digital tools on STACS’s ESGpedia registry for better tracking of sustainability efforts and emission reduction. 

To celebrate International Women’s Day with the theme #EmbraceEquity, STACS is honoured to share the narratives of 6 visionary women leading the charge in the ESG and Tech space. Gain insight into their experiences starting out in tech to where they are today, championing sustainability in their various fields, through their stories, which serve as a powerful reminder of the incredible potential of women in tech.

Taking the first steps towards decarbonisation and net zero? Here’s what you need to know about Corporate Carbon Footprint: Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, key global accounting standards, and how you can calculate and reduce your emissions with the help of existing technology solutions. Discover more through our comprehensive guide.

Meet our international team members - Linh, Della, and Htoo Kyaw - as they share their experiences of working remotely, as well as tips for fellow remote workers! STACS went live in 9 sectors across Asia in 2022. To facilitate our regional scale up, we have expanded our remote hiring rapidly, broadening our pool of talented individuals, each with fresh experiences and in-depth know-hows in their various countries.

Timed fittingly at the start of 2023, we embarked on our company retreat to the beautiful tropical beaches of Desaru, Malaysia, to foster deeper bonds with our team members and align on our common goal of bringing forward the future of Sustainable Finance. Walking the talk as Asia's leading ESG FinTech, we also incorporated CSR in the main agenda, through a day of Beach Cleanup.

The pressure is on for all sectors to commit to going green in 2023, with growing regulatory and business push. Singapore will continue leading the region's sustainable development towards net zero and ESG Finance, across various industries including carbon credits, fashion and textile, real-estate, hospitality, e-commerce, and more. Read our 2023 ESG Finance outlook on how every sector needs to step up their green efforts this year, or fear losing competitiveness and being left behind.

The fashion industry faces difficulty in conducting Supplier Sustainability Monitoring, lack of standardised reporting formats, and difficulties in establishing traceability of sustainable fashion efforts. Read on to see how STACS’s platform, ESGpedia, helps to greenify this process and enable ESG finance.

STACS was invited to speak at COP27 on the first-ever Singapore Pavilion. Aligned with the consensus that Asia is where the fight against climate change will be won or lost, we presented our solution to enable companies on a clear pathway towards net zero, as well as launched our carbon credits solution with Razer as our first partner. View our key takeaways at COP27 on ESG Finance here.

2022 was a year that solidified our commitment to bringing forward the future of Sustainable Finance, and our position as Asia’s leading ESG FinTech, paving a clear pathway for the region’s net zero transition. Read on for our 2022 key highlights and on our progress on ESGpedia within MAS’ Project Greenprint.

MoneyFM 89.3 Interview: The future of sustainability for e-commerce is here. Join us as Kenneth Ng, Sustainability Lead at Razer Inc. and Kimberly Lee, Carbon Solutions Lead at STACS, discuss how Restorify is in place today and empowering gamers and end-consumers to offset their carbon footprint through traceable, high-quality carbon credits.

How can green fintech and ESG data help the hospitality industry in Singapore and across Asia achieve ESG finance and decarbonization? Discover how here.

With Singapore being the long-standing data centre hub of Asia Pacific, RDA and STACS have entered a strategic partnership to provide a holistic platform to transform Singapore's data centre industry, and shape a sustainable digital future, through STACS' ESGpedia. This is aligned with the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s and Economic Development Board’s initiative that aims to allow the "calibrated and sustainable growth" of data centers in Singapore.

The live use cases set a precedent in their various industries and can be replicated across Asia to empower businesses in their green and decarbonisation journey via better data, digital tools, and effective ESG financing.

Razer customers globally will be empowered to engage in conscious choices and participate in carbon offsets, through its newly-launched Restorify service. The partnership is powered by STACS’ Carbonpal platform, which is a carbon credits digital management platform that facilitates the fractionalisation of carbon credits for purchase by end consumers. Carbonpal is integrated with ESGpedia.

Spark Systems’ journey towards its ESG disclosure began with them successfully measuring and monitoring their carbon footprint. Being onboard ESGpedia encompasses three key benefits: Greater Transparency, Sustainable Financing, and Maintaining Competitiveness.

The cooperation centres around the usage of STACS’ ESGpedia digital registry, which powers the ESG Registry of the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (‘MAS’) Project Greenprint. A pilot phase of the cooperation is underway, where Manulife Investment Management seeks to pilot innovative investment monitoring techniques for sustainable investments.

Citadines Bali will be the first hotel in Bali to adopt digital tools to track emissions from its operations, which can be replicated to enable other hotels or buildings who are transforming to be more sustainable by utilising holistic ESG data and digital tools. The partnership involves the technical integration of EnOSTM, Envision Digital’s net zero platform for decarbonisation to the ESGpedia digital registry, which powers the ESG Registry of the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (‘MAS’) Project Greenprint.

Singlife will leverage CO2X’s data tracking and analytics capabilities to publish policyholders’ sustainability reports on ESGpedia, which tracks data including fuel consumption, carbon emissions, and carbon intensity. Using this information obtained with consent from insurance policyholders, Singlife will be able to efficiently develop and better structure new motor insurance policies by accurately assessing and monitoring environmental impact and costs.

Maxeon has embarked on leveraging holistic ESG data and digital tools on ESGpedia for monitoring the sustainability performance of suppliers in its end-to-end supply chain. Via the partnership, Maxeon is enabled to select suppliers based on their emissions and provide greater transparency of its carbon footprint for its stakeholders.

EGAT is one of the world’s leading independent certifiers of renewable energy. STACS’ ESGpedia ensures the integrity of the RECs traded, enhancing trust and adoption amongst market participants, accelerating the country’s carbon neutrality goal.

Money is pouring into ESG funds – where priority is given not just to financial performance, but also environmental, social and governance factors of a company. Can the trend for sustainability continue in this volatile economic environment? How can green fintech and data help banks and asset managers?

STACS and Everimpact headquartered in France today announced their partnership to provide banks and corporates involved in the carbon market with greater transparency and trust.

Since the establishment of the United Nation’s 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the Paris Agreement, governments and members of society have been uniting on the frontier of sustainability.

Leading Singapore ESG FinTech firm, Hashstacs Pte Ltd (STACS) has achieved the globally-recognised ISO 22301:2019 certification in Business Continuity Management System for the provision of its blockchain infrastructure platform after an extensive audit of the company’s business continuity practices. The certification was awarded by TÜV SÜD PSB.

The Environmental Risk Questionnaire, launched earlier this year by the Association of Banks in Singapore for banks in Singapore, is now available for all corporates to digitally submit on U-Reg’s ESG reporting platform with direct connectivity and technical integration to ESGpedia by STACS.

A wave of green is sweeping through the economy. Everywhere, businesses of all sizes – from neighbourhood mom-and-pop shops to large corporates like BlackRock – are recognising the significance of sustainability as a core consideration for long-term economic success.

At STACS, we believe in equal opportunities for everyone across different departments. Through every employee’s learning experience, we encourage ownership, regardless of projects and roles.

Putting the spotlight on our Blockchain Engineer Intern, meet Loh Yih Hang, who shares his story on how he rides on the digital waves to upskill himself for his future tech career that propels a sustainable future, and the invaluable advice for fellow budding engineers.

Textile and Fashion Federation (‘TaFF’), the official association for the textile and fashion industry in Singapore, today announced their partnership with STACS, in partnership with the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Project Greenprint, and financial institutions to enable the textile and fashion sector to go green via holistic ESG data, to support effective green financing and capital stewardship for sustainability projects.

In May, we were generously hosted at the Everest Room, Google Asia Pacific, Singapore office for the launch of our ESGpedia platform in partnership with the MAS and key partners from the world of asset management, banks, exchanges, insurers, and financial services.

The Philippine Dealing System Holdings Corp. today announced the launch of a fully digitally native bond, issued on a distributed ledger technology network powered by STACS

With a common vision to enable sustainability amongst companies of all sizes, TÜV SÜD PSB and STACS today announced their partnership on ESGpedia, via TÜV SÜD’s Sustainability-as-a-Service (SaaS) programme. ESGpedia registry, developed by STACS, powers the ESG Registry of the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (‘MAS’) Project Greenprint, and was officially launched earlier this month (18 May) with more than 20 institutional partners, from both the financial and non-financial sectors, at the Project Greenprint Industry Showcase event.

STACS has developed and launched its ESGpedia registry platform. Powering the ESG Registry of the Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) Project Greenprint, ESGpedia aims to improve sustainability data quality to support more effective sustainable finance. ESGpedia aggregates, records, and maintains the provenance of holistic and forward-looking ESG certifications and data of companies across various sectors and global verified sources on a single registry.

It’s becoming crystal clear that for the finance industry to make good decisions in terms of capital allocation to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) assets, we will need to improve transparency and trust at the data level.

STACS announces partnership with the Global Compact Network Singapore (GCNS) and its decarbonisation arm, the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC) Singapore, formed in collaboration with the World Bank's CPLC.

A Wall Street gold rush is underway in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing, but rating and ranking how companies measure up on these criteria remains a challenge for global capital markets and asset managers.

The technical integration allows for ongoing project data from U-Reg to be ingested on the ESGpedia registry, starting with the renewable energy sector from projects in Europe, with future plans to cover other sectors.

Announced during Budget 2022, it was revealed that by the end of this decade, per tonne of emissions will be increased from $5 per tonne of emissions to as much as $50-$80 - as part of a series of measures made by the Singapore government in tackling climate change.

STACS announces the launch of its full suite of ESG solutions for banks, stock exchanges, asset managers, corporates, and SMEs, as part of its refreshed vision as “The Nexus of ESG Finance”. The full suite of ESG solutions - ESGpedia, Vetta smart contract platform, and ESG Playbooks - aims to enable effective Sustainable Finance.

To mark International Women’s Day and the theme this year, “Break the Bias”, STACS had the pleasure of inviting remarkable women across various industries in the FinTech space, both from within the STACS team and our partners and clients, to share their wishes, experiences, and advice on this special day with us.

STACS appoints new leadership role, Sharon Yuen as the new Chief Commercial Officer, who will be steering the firm’s business development and sales efforts. Prior to joining STACS, Sharon worked in IHS Markit as Director of Sales, Head of ASEAN Sales and Strategic Alliances within ASEAN and Greater China at R3, and most recently served as Business Development Director at KX, focused on extending its financial services business in the region.

The platform eliminates and streamlines bespoke trade matching parameters, resolving trade exceptions in real-time for asset mangers. This is part of the long-term collaboration between STACS and CSOP to deploy a live solution for efficient OTC trade processing across different asset class. Future phases would move beyond trade matching to also facilitate the seamless settlement of trades.

STACS ESG Finance Research | It’s clear that governments, institutions, investors, and consumers are all aligned on the need for sustainability to be at the heart of how we live, play, work, invest, shop, and travel. Tremendous opportunities lie ahead of us as the world transitions from fossil fuels to green alternatives, and our Little Red Dot must position itself now to capture these falling treasures.

STACS ESG Finance Research | There are opportunities to be reaped in the world's quest towards sustainability, and green finance is quickly becoming integral to a business' profitability today. With the issuance of green bonds, ESG funds, and investment in sustainability projects rising exponentially, what is the current global status on sustainability standards to truly verify the greenness of projects?

In the year ahead, ESG will continue to be a major theme, with the emergence of new technology platforms to serve growing business needs around ESG certification and related finance. For the city-state to position itself as a leading global green fintech hub in Asia and beyond, we believe there are three key priorities it must not lose sight of.

STACS has been awarded the globally-recognised ISO certification for information security management systems. The certification is awarded for STACS’s DLT-based platform, Vetta, which enables enhanced ESG finance.

2021 has been a monumental one for us at STACS in the Green FinTech space. Collectively accelerating the Sustainable Finance agenda with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and our ecosystem of partners, we are excited to continue moving the needle on sustainable finance in the financial industry and across all sectors. Let’s take a look back at the key highlights of 2021!

The launch of the Greenprint ESG Registry, a common ESG data platform for all companies in Singapore by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and STACS, is a monumental step forward for Singapore in the sustainability space. As 2021 draws to a close, we reflect on Singapore’s status as the leading Green FinTech Hub in Asia, and what makes the country a pioneer in leveraging technology and data to enable Sustainable Finance.

The second edition of STACS Showcase, a celebratory and collaborative fintech event, happened during the week of Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) earlier this month, 8 – 12 Nov, as a digital event.

Here are the Top 8 Highlights from the week.

STACS’ industry-wide blockchain-based Greenprint ESG Data and Certification Registry, in partnership with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), aims to provide accessibility to quality ESG data of various industry sectors through an aggregated platform, and will include sector-specific industry-recognised certifications and real-time processed dynamic data from other integrated technologies and sectorial platforms.

CO2X Pte Ltd (“CO2X”) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with key industry and association leaders from the Transport and Logistics, and Finance sectors. Witnessed by Law Chung Ming (Executive Director for Transport and Logistics, Enterprise Singapore (ESG)), and Kwok Quek Sin (Executive Director (Green FinTech), FinTech and Innovation Group, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)), the MoU signals the commitment to jointly develop a platform that will provide local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with accessible carbon tracking solutions and green financial services through a data-driven approach.

On Sep 30, an esteemed panel of speakers from SFA, Northern Trust, BNP Paribas, Eastspring Investments, and our very own Benjamin Soh, Managing Director from STACS, covered key topics on some of the milestones and macro trends that DLT has embarked on in the asset and wealth management space, and how it could be the potential fix to the business challenges faced today.

STACS is selected as private blockchain protocol provider for Project e-VCC, a global first initiative led by InvestaX, UBS, State Street, and CMS, and jointly supported by PwC Singapore and The Tezos Foundation.

End August, Green and Sustainable finance investments, banking, and fintech were some of the important themes that brought together a distinguished panel of speakers alongside our own Co-founder & Managing Director, Benjamin Soh.

As a partner of Summation Programme by SGInnovate and aligned with our commitment to support Deep Tech literacy in Blockchain, we seek to build strong talents in the industry.

Read on as Chen Ning, Software Engineer shares more about his journey at STACS.

STACS is one of seven startups globally to be admitted into the programme, and one of two within Singapore. Amongst the seven companies selected, STACS spearheads ESG fintech by enabling enhanced ESG finance and high quality carbon credits. Together with Mastercard, STACS will seek to expand and accelerate innovation around digital asset technology and make it safer and easier for institutions to adopt blockchain technology.

In celebration of the upcoming sixth anniversary of enterprise blockchain, STACS hosted a global industry panel with The ValueExchange on 7 July, with esteemed speakers from the Singapore FinTech Association, and the Union Bank of the Philippines.

Joined by an esteemed speaker lineup of industry leaders, STACS Managing Director Benjamin Soh discussed the latest trends and applications of digital technologies in ESG Finance alongside MAS, MUFG, and more. Headline topics include bridging a US$2.5 trillion green funding gap, to establishing a common green infrastructure for Singapore, right down to how COVID has brought a positive impact amidst climate change.

The partnership largely focuses on leveraging technologies to produce accurate insightful impact reports that are accessible and immutably stored on a common Distributed Ledger Technology data infrastructure for a single source of truth, for greater ESG impacts across industries.

STACS is featured in the May 2021 The World Economic Forum report, as one of the few live DLT platforms for effective Trade Lifecycle Management for the financial industry.

The industry partners contributed their various domain expertise towards the final ESG-enabling and interoperable end-to-end DLT-enabled bonds lifecycle management solution for the financial industry.

Digital assets and sustainability-linked bonds are a key component of the future of financial services, as the world transitions to green mandates in every industry including banking. Set in the context of tokenized securities in the securities market, STACS worked closely with the team at Deutsche Bank on digital assets interoperability across platforms and related custody.

Industry participants include UBS, Malaysia National Stock Exchange Bursa Malaysia and Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank).

Our inaugural joint podcast with The ValueExchange: DLT In the Real World — the facts & figures behind digitisation, as Barnaby Nelson, Chief Executive Officer at The ValueExchange and Nigel Lam, Product and Strategic Partnership Senior Manager at STACS break through the noise of the day and unravel the blockchain transformation of Trade Processing.

In celebration of Earth Day 2021, STACS co-hosted a Green FinTech panel at Bridge+ 79 Robinson Road in partnership with Tribe Accelerator, Alibaba Cloud, and enabled by flexible workspace Bridge+ by CapitaLand.

Investors include Wavemaker Partners, Tribe Accelerator, and Stellar Partners, bringing total funding to date to more than S$8 million.

The partnership largely focuses on supporting effective green and sustainability-linked loans, among other Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) financing formats.

Singapore’s financial services leadership must incorporate green finance to tackle existing issues and pave the way for a sustainable future.

Financial Market Infrastructures have time and again impacted all parties involved. In such unprecedented times and in the midst of disruptive transformation currently shaping the entire financial service industry, financial market infrastructure will not stay immune for much longer. In light of the GameStop and AMC fiasco, legacy infrastructure was shoved into the limelight once again. STACS shares with The Digital Banker on the impact of such infrastructure and discusses alternatives.

Tune in as our new Chairman, Ray Ferguson and Managing Director, Benjamin Soh dive into Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and green fintech as they discussed how STACS is seeking to provide a nexus between the financial ecosystem and the physical world for more effective implementation of green finance.

Eastspring Investments, BNP Paribas Securities Services and STACS collaborate to develop blockchain-powered trade lifecycle management solution, unlocking efficiencies while reducing costs for financial institutions.

 Ray Ferguson, the former CEO of Standard Chartered Singapore, has joined homegrown fintech start-up, STACS, a leading Singapore-headquartered fintech development company providing transformative technology to the financial services sector, as Chairman.

 Deutsche Bank Securities Services and STACS today announced their collaboration to jointly explore a proof-of-concept related to the technological and practical feasibility of digital assets interoperability, liquidity, cross-border connectivity, and smart contract templates, including the support of sustainability-themed digital bonds.

STACS announced today that it has become a portfolio company of PwC Singapore’s Venture Hub programme. The joint business relationship will bring about synergies between the two firms, while helping to elevate trust placed in distributed ledger technology (DLT) by the financial services industry and driving adoption.

STACS had the great pleasure to be the Grand Donor of the initiative “FinTech for Good”, organized by the Singapore FinTech Association (SFA). In the spirit of giving back to the community, STACS pledged to donate SGD20,000 to the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) U-Care Fund 2020 which aims to improve the welfare of low-income NTUC union members and their families.

STACS' key updates from the festival, including showcases that features collaborations of clients and partners from leading global financial firms all over the world, and finally our astounding win at the MAS Global FinTech Innovation Challenge Awards 2020.

STACS​ announced today that it has completed the bond on blockchain proof-of-concept with Malaysia’s National Stock Exchange, Bursa Malaysia, to facilitate the growth of the bond marketplace at the Labuan Financial Exchange.

STACS, a Singapore FinTech company focusing on Blockchain technology solutions for financial institutions, announced its partnership with EFG Bank to co-develop a Blockchain platform that will enhance and simplify the processes of structured products.

Project Harbour is centred around the usage of Distributed Ledger Technology DLT as a register in facilitating the growth of Labuan’s bond marketplace. The project will take place in Malaysia’s offshore market, Labuan, in collaboration with the Labuan Financial Exchange, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bursa Malaysia.