Hong Kong stock exchange to raise at least HK$250,000 for Operation Santa Claus to set precedent of charity in tumultuous year

Tori Cowley, group chief communications officer of HKEX, says sustainability and philanthropy should be an integral part of all businesses
‘It’s very difficult for us to tell companies what to do unless we are doing it ourselves,’ she says

Operation Santa Claus

Wynna Wong

Published: 10:00am, 4 Dec 2020

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In what has turned out to be an incredibly challenging year for sectors across the board, the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing has reiterated the importance of sustainable business practices.

It has advised all organisations they should incorporate sustainability, philanthropy, and ESG or “environmental, social, and governance” – an umbrella term covering wide-ranging issues such as climate change and resource scarcity – into their strategies.

“It shouldn’t be an afterthought. It should be a systemic part of your business,” Tori Cowley, group chief communications officer of HKEX, said.

Operation Santa Claus is an annual fundraising drive co-hosted by the South China Morning Post and RTHK. Photo: SCMP

She noted that while profits and financial performance were undeniably crucial for any organisation, having a connection with customers and a sense of responsibility for the community were also “incredibly important for good business”.

Squash players serve a cause by donating money to Operation Santa Claus

“It’s not just something nice to do; it’s not a box-ticking exercise,” she said. “It allows you to make the right business decision. It helps with the risk management assessment of yourself as an organisation. [The pandemic] has really shown that.”

Moreover, according to Cowley, it helps attract talent because “nobody wants to work for an organisation that is just interested in money”.

“Young people, especially, want to work for an organisation that has a purpose, so that they have a role to play in society,” Cowley added.

In a show of “practicing what you preach”, HKEX is a major contributor to this year’s Operation Santa Claus – an annual fundraising drive co-hosted by the South China Morning Post and public broadcaster RTHK since 1988. HKEX has made a pledge of raising at least HK$250,000 (US$32,248) for the programme.

Tori Cowley feels having a connection with customers and a sense of responsibility for the community are incredibly important for any good business. Photo: Handout

But even without the pandemic, Cowley said HKEX had been working on refreshing its corporate social responsibility strategy for the past 12 months.

In June, it officially launched the HKEX Foundation – the organisation’s charity arm – and injected HK$10 million into an emergency relief fund in response to the coronavirus. The money has since gone to charities in Hong Kong, mainland China, and Britain.

Cowley noted that “stock exchanges are kind of unusual” in that they hold multiple positions in society at once, and HKEX had tried to encourage sustainable business practices in all of its roles.

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“We have this three-hat role – regulator, market operator, and public company,” she said, adding that as an operator, 2020 had been challenging amidst volatility in the market because of “massive things going on geopolitically and economically”.

“Our core job has been to maintain the resiliency, trust and the uptime of markets despite everything the world has thrown at us,” she said.

As a regulator, HKEX has published ESG and sustainability guidelines, but as a corporation, “it’s very difficult for us to tell companies what to do unless we are doing it ourselves”.

“So, we have to walk the talk. We have to behave as we preach, if you like,” she said.

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