Philippine Financial Market Infrastructure PDS Group partners with STACS's ESGpedia on the SFIA ASEAN Single AccessPoint for ESG Data (SAFE) Initiative on ESG Data Disclosure

The partnership is part of the SAFE initiative,led by the Sustainable Finance Institute Asia (SFIA),and aims to support corporate sustainability and simplify ESG data reporting for businesses and issuers in the Philippines

SFIA has identified STACS's ESGpedia as a potential technology platform partner for the Single AccessPoint for ESG Data (SAFE) Initiative,which aims to address ESG data and disclosure gaps in ASEAN markets.

As the largest ESG data registry in Asia with use cases across various sectors,ESGpedia provides over 5 million sustainability data points and enables companies to disclose ESG data in a guided and simplified manner,with incentive programs in place.

PDS Group is promoting ESGpedia to be used by Philippine corporations in order to facilitate likely to be required disclosures and attain greater insights into their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The partnership by the PDS Group with STACS and the introduction of ESGpedia in the Philippines follows the successful launch of ESGpedia and SAFE Initiative in Vietnam with Bamboo Capital Group in August.

MANILA,Philippines and SINGAPORE,Sept. 14,2023 -- Philippine Dealing System Holdings Corp. (PDS Group) announced its partnership with Asia's leading Environmental,Social,and Governance (ESG) data and technology solutions company,STACS,to utilize STACS's ESGpedia platform to support corporate sustainability and ESG reporting for businesses and issuers in the Philippines. This is part of the Sustainable Finance Institute Asia (SFIA) pilot initiative to address ESG data and disclosure gaps in ASEAN markets.

The partnership by the PDS Group with STACS and the launch of ESGpedia in the Philippines as part of the SFIA SAFE Initiative was unveiled in Manila on 11 September 2023,with the attendance of Philippine companies,the United Nations Global Compact Philippines,the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas,and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

As the largest ESG data registry in Asia with use cases across various sectors,ESGpedia has been selected as one of the technology platform partners for the SFIA Single AccessPoint for ESG Data (SAFE) Initiative Pilot,which aims to bring together and empower key industry participants across ASEAN through credible,comprehensive,and consistent ESG data reporting.

Through the partnership,PDS Group is promoting ESGpedia for use,initially by its community of listed issuers,and then for all other Philippine companies,to facilitate their ESG data reporting journey expected to become a set of regular corporate disclosures. ESGpedia provides a digital platform which simplifies various ESG standards and frameworks,providing an easy and guided sustainability journey. It also includes digital tools to automatically convert operational data like fuel,refrigerant,and electricity consumption to GHG emissions under the standard GHG Protocol,localized to the Philippines,allowing companies to gain insights of their carbon footprint.

ESGpedia has also partnered with the ESCAP Sustainable Business Network (ESBN) Asia-Pacific Green Deal Program. Through this,participants will also be eligible to achieve a Green,Silver or Gold Green Deal Badge upon completion of their company ESG profile on ESGpedia. This profile would include data submitted through disclosures and enhanced by aggregated data from public sources. This serves as an incentive program to allow awardees to showcase to customers,investors,and financers their commitment to sustainability.

The cross-border partnership was unveiled in Manila on 11 September 2023,with the attendance of companies in the country (corporations and financial institutions),and the Securities and Exchange Committee. This follows the successful launch of ESGpedia in Vietnam with Bamboo Capital Group (also part of the SFIA SAFE Initiative),earlier in August.

Antonino Nakpil,PDEx President and CEO,said: "The first step to corporate sustainability is awareness and an understanding of the company's own ESG standing. To this end we are delighted to support the Sustainable Finance Institute Asia (SFIA) Single Accesspoint for ESG Data (SAFE) Initiative. Powered by our partner STACS's ESGpedia,SAFE will facilitate Philippine businesses' access to credible,consistent,and comprehensive ESG data,generation of insights into their GHG emissions,and streamline their corporate sustainability and ESG reporting.

As the recipient of the corporate disclosures of its community of Issuers,the PDS Group is well positioned as a nexus for the new reporting regimes for corporate ESG data. By promoting this digital portal for this information,the Group looks to help empower its community,and spreading to a wider range of Philippine corporations achieve the national goals as well as the ASEAN goals toward Net Zero emissions."

Benjamin Soh,STACS Managing Director,said: "Countries across Asia are transiting towards mandatory ESG disclosures. To facilitate likely to be required disclosures for businesses in the Philippines,we are delighted that ESGpedia is partnering with PDS Group as part of the ASEAN Single Accesspoint for ESG Data (SAFE) initiative,to promote ESGpedia for use by its community of listed issuers and all other Philippine companies.

These companies will benefit from a free and guided program on ESGpedia to kickstart their ESG data reporting and decarbonisation journey. Through a community-centric approach,we look forward to shaping the future of the ESG data landscape and empowering ASEAN nations in their mandatory ESG reporting and sustainability journey."

Covering over 5 million sustainability data points,ESGpedia empowersfinancial institutions and companies to achieve strategic sustainability goals,by providing harmonized and standardized asset-level ESG data,and solutions to enable sustainable finance and suppliers sustainability monitoring. Through AI-powered aggregation and harmonization,ESGpedia combines public ESG data with primary disclosure data,collected directly through the platform.

ESGpedia is live across Asia,powering the Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) Greenprint ESG Registry and the ESCAP Sustainable Business Network (ESBN) Asia-Pacific Green Deal digital assessment.

About PDS Group

The Philippine Dealing System Holdings Corp. ("PDS Group") is a private corporation that has been providing national financial market infrastructure services since 1995. The Group's services abide by international standards and are designed to meet the needs of market stakeholdersand are provided by the Group's two key subsidiaries. The Philippine Depository & Trust Corp. (PDTC)is the sole SEC-licensed Central Securities Depository (CSD) for Fixed Income (FI) and Equity (EQ) markets that provides Registry services for these asset classes. PDTC is also regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) which granted it quasi-bank and trust licenses. The Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx) is an SEC-licensed operator of the Fixed IncomeMarketand utilizes its empowerment as an exchange,an over-the-counter market,a Self-Regulatory Organization,and its clearing authorization to oversee the range of marketactivitiescovering trading,clearing and settlement,through to surveillance and rule enforcement.

About STACS

STACS (Hashstacs Pte Ltd) is Asia's leading ESG data and technology company,headquartered in Singapore. Its ESGpedia platform powers the Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) Greenprint ESG Registry,ASEAN Single Accesspoint for ESG Data (SAFE) pilot initiative,and ESCAP Sustainable Business Network (ESBN) Asia-Pacific Green Deal digital assessment. ESGpedia serves as the Nexus of ESG Finance with ESG data across multiple industries,as well as digital solutions for the financial sector to scale decarbonisation financing,and corporates and SMEs to attain their ESG goals. Empowering industries across Asia towards Net Zero,its clients and partners include global financial institutions,corporates,and SMEs. For more information,please visit www.stacs.io.