Since the palm oil sector is capital intensive and needs long-term financing, palm oil companies depend on bank loans. By investing in banks that provide loans to the palm oil industry, investors may indirectly face deforestation-related risks. These risks are magnified when a bank’s exposure to palm oil companies with sustainability risks is relatively high and its equity position is relatively weak. Loans to a selection of 105 companies involved in the entire palm oil supply chain were analysed. The top 10 banks financing the palm oil sector were identified. The banks’ relative exposure to the palm oil sector and the risks involved were then analysed by looking to their policies and their specific loan portfolios. Finally, the main investors of the top 10 banks are listed.
Download the PDF here: USD 11 Billion Loans to Palm Oil Industry- ESG Issues May Create Indirect Risks for Bank Investors
Key Findings
- Banks have USD 11.4 billion in outstanding loans to the palm oil sector. Southeast Asian (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore) banks are leading the list of palm oil sector financiers, providing 66 percent of the outstanding loans. East Asian (Japan, China, and Taiwan) and European banks follow, with 13 and 12 percent respectively. Banks hold virtually no bonds, which are controlled by institutional and private investors.
- The ten largest loan issuers provide USD 7.5 billion, or 66 percent, of financing to the palm oil sector. Bank Mandiri (Indonesia), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) (Singapore) and Bank Negara Indonesia broke the one billion US dollar barrier in currently outstanding loans to the palm oil sector. All three of the banks have weak sustainability policies.
- The banks with the highest relative exposure to the palm oil sector are Indonesia EximBank (5 percent of net loans), Bank Mandiri (3 percent) and Bank Negara Indonesia (3 percent). For these banks, palm oil loans represent 21 percent, 13 percent and 15 percent of equity. None of these banks include environmental standards for their clients. As a result, their borrowers are not required to have a NDPE policy in place to receive a loan, increasing risk for their investors.
- Palm oil clients of the top 10 banks include companies with sustainability risks. Among the largest borrowers is CBI Group (Indonesia), with its subsidiary Sawit Sumbermas Sarana (SSMS) receiving most of the group’s loans. SSMS is excluded from the NDPE market and continues to deforest. Another borrower identified is Rajawali Group (owner of Eagle High Plantations). During the months of October and September of 2018, approximately 1,500 ha of peat were burned on one of its concessions. Tunas Baru Lampung (TBLA), also among the borrowers, has cleared almost 7,000 ha of peatland and forest across its concessions since 2014 and recently it was found to clear peat in South Sumatra.
- Investors in banks could face indirect palm oil-related risk. The banks’ loan portfolios could be exposed to palm oil companies and their ESG risks. These risks relate to NDPE/market access, stranded assets and legal risks. The risks may result in a palm oil company not serving its debt anymore, reducing the value of the loan. Such a scenario would force a bank to write down a part of the loan, negatively affecting the equity value of the bank and finally its share price.
- Case study: 79 percent of Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) outstanding palm oil loans could pose a sustainability risk. This represents 2.6 percent of the bank’s total net loans. With equity to net loans ratio (EQL) at 22 percent, 12 percent of the bank’s equity is at risk.
Palm Oil Sector Relies on Banks for Its Financing
The palm oil sector is capital intensive and often requires upfront financing. Growers need funds to develop land and plant palm oil trees. This process takes three to five years to start bearing fruit and production peaks at seven or more years. Palm oil processing companies need capital to build or acquire mills and refineries. Against this backdrop, most palm oil companies need to borrow funds and rely on banks for their financing.
This report analyses the bank financing of the palm oil sector by looking at loans provided to a selection of 105 companies involved in the palm oil supply chain. Chain Reaction Research (CRR) selected the companies from a broader selection of “forest-risk” companies provided by Forests & Finance. All companies involved in palm oil were included. The figures in this study refer to bank loans provided from January 2010 to July 2018 (the period analysed in this report) and have yet to mature. The objective of this report is to provide an insight in the financing of the palm oil sector and focus on the top 10 banks now financing the industry at the moment.
Banks provided USD 34 billion in loans to the palm oil sector; USD 11 billion is currently outstanding
CRR found that banks provided USD 33.8 billion in loans to the palm oil refineries, traders and plantations during the analysed period. From those loans, USD 11.4 billion is currently not matured, referred to in the report as loans currently outstanding. Figure 1 below gives an overview of the yearly changes in the total amount of loans provided per year, as well as the breakdown of the loans currently outstanding per year of issuance.
Figure 1: Loans provided to the palm oil sector, Jan 2010 to Jul 2018
Sources: Forests & Finance, Chain Reaction Research
Southeast Asian banks lead palm oil sector financiers
Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean banks provided 33, 21 and 12 percent respectively of the total palm oil loans (Figure 2). Altogether, Southeast Asian banks provided 66 percent of the loans currently outstanding, totalling USD 7.6 billion.
Figure 2: Palm oil loans outstanding per region
Sources: Forests & Finance, Chain Reaction Research
*East Asia: Japan, China, Taiwan, South Korea
East Asian and European banks follow, with Japanese and Chinese institutions together providing the biggest chunk of the loans coming from East Asia. United Kingdom and the Netherlands lead the financiers from Europe. North American banks and banks from Oceania make up 4 and 2 percent respectively of the financing in the palm oil sector. Figure 3 below shows the top 5 banks from East Asia and Europe financing the palm oil sector. Banks from Southeast Asia, which provided the majority of the loans, are discussed in the section below.
Figure 3: Top 5 banks from East Asia and top 5 banks from Europe with outstanding loans to the palm oil sector
Sources: Forests & Finance, Chain Reaction Research
10 banks provide USD 7.5 billion of financing to the palm oil sector
Of the USD 11.4 billion currently outstanding, 66 percent was provided by 10 banks. Figure 4 below shows the top 10 banks with outstanding loans to the palm oil sector.
Figure 4: Top 10 banks with outstanding loans to the palm oil sector
| Bank | Country | Loans to palm oil sector (USD mln) |
% palm oil loans to net loans* | % equity to net loans (EQL)* |
% palm oil loans to equity* |
| Bank Mandiri | Indonesia |
1,510 |
3% |
23% |
13% |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | Singapore |
1,042 |
1% |
16% |
4% |
| Bank Negara Indonesia | Indonesia |
1,031 |
3% |
22% |
15% |
| Bank Rakyat Indonesia | Indonesia |
838 |
2% |
22% |
7% |
| Maybank | Malaysia | 772 | 1% | 15% | 4% |
| RHB Banking | Malaysia | 710 |
2% |
14% |
13% |
| CIMB Group | Malaysia |
517 |
1% |
15% |
4% |
| HSBC | United Kingdom |
398 |
0.04% |
19% |
0.2% |
| Mizuho Financial | Japan |
329 |
0.05% |
11% |
0.4% |
| Indonesia Eximbank | Indonesia |
326 |
5% |
26% |
21% |
| Total top-10 banks | 7,471 |
– |
– |
– |
|
| Average top-10 banks |
– |
2% |
18% |
8% |
|
*ratios where calculated with the most recent available quarter figures
Sources: Forests & Finance, Chain Reaction Research, Thomson Reuters Eikon
Bank Mandiri (Indonesia), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) (Singapore) and Bank Negara Indonesia broke the one-billion USD Dollar barrier in currently outstanding loans to the palm oil sector.
As presented from Figure 4, the percentage of palm oil loans to the net loans of the top-10 banks is on average 2 percent. Indonesia EximBank, Bank Mandiri and Bank Negara Indonesia have the highest relative exposure to the palm oil sector, respectively 5, 3 and 3 percent. Indonesia EximBank is 100 percent fully owned by the Government of Indonesia, and therefore no institutional shareholders are involved. Looking at the ratio of equity to net loans (EQL) we see that for both Bank Mandiri and Bank Negara Indonesia it is relatively high, 23 and 22 percent respectively. A more specific case study is conducted at the last subsection of this report about Bank Negara Indonesia.
Indonesia EximBank, Bank Mandiri and Bank Negara Indonesia all have weak sustainability policies. Indonesia Eximbank scores zero points on the Forests and Finance matrix, Bank Mandiri two points and Bank Negara Indonesia four. Mizuho Financial has 17 points and HSBC is the only bank performing above the middle, scoring 30 out of 50 points (Figure 5). The two banks scoring high have very low exposure to palm oil loans, for both below 0.1 percent to their net loans.
Figure 5: Policies of top 10 palm oil banks
| Bank | Policy score (max=50) |
| Bank Mandiri |
2 |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation |
9 |
| Bank Negara Indonesia |
4 |
| Bank Rakyat Indonesia |
2 |
| Maybank |
0 |
| RHB Banking |
0 |
| CIMB Group |
0 |
| HSBC |
30 |
| Mizuho Financial |
17 |
| Indonesia Eximbank |
0 |
Source: Forests & Finance, Profundo
More specifically, these three banks score zero points regarding the environmental standards they require from their clients in order to provide financial services, meaning that a borrower is not required to have a “No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation” (NDPE) policy in place to be granted a loan. Such absence of environmental standards for a bank’s clients might render investing in the bank risky.
Top 10 banks’ main palm oil borrowers
Figure 6: Companies with palm oil loans outstanding provided by the top 10 banks as of 2010
| Group | Amount (USD mln) |
| Perkebunan Nusantara Group | 1,663 |
| Albukhary Group | 932 |
| Citra Borneo Indah Group (CBI Group) | 589 |
| Johor Group | 583 |
| Triputra Group | 410 |
| Genting Group | 380 |
| Sime Darby | 369 |
| Sampoerna Group | 358 |
| Sungai Budi Group | 343 |
| Rajawali Group | 291 |
| Wilmar Group | 257 |
| Carson Cumberbatch Group | 229 |
| Austindo Group | 168 |
| Jardine Matheson | 166 |
| Sinar Mas Group | 146 |
|
Gozco Group |
144 |
| Provident Agro Group |
111 |
Sources: Forests & Finance, Chain Reaction Research
Investing in a bank with high exposure to the palm oil sector and with a low policy score means there is no screening method in place and thus it is more likely that this bank is providing loans to palm oil companies carrying sustainability related risks. In order to determine the risk investors of each bank might face, it is important not to look only at the exposure each bank has to the palm oil sector and the bank’s policy score but also the breakdown of the palm oil companies each bank is providing loans to.
Figure 6 above shows the companies to which the top 10 banks currently have palm oil outstanding loans (above USD 10 million), while the figure on the side shows a summary of the total amount of the loans outstanding the top-10 banks have together in each palm oil group (above USD 100 million). A more detailed figure can be found in the Appendix of this report, Figure 11. Differences may arise in terms of sustainability related risks in each bank’s palm oil loan portfolio.
Most of the loans went to the Perkebunan Nusantara and Albukhary Groups for the amount of USD 1.7 and USD 0.9 billion respectively. Perkebunan Nusantara, a state-owned Indonesian palm oil grower and processer, has an agreement with Unilever to accelerate sustainable palm oil production in Indonesia. Bank Mandiri provided 62 percent of Perkebunan Nusantara’s palm oil loans.
Albukhary Group, a Malaysian conglomerate, is active in the palm oil sector mainly through its subsidiary Tradewinds Plantation. Tradewinds Plantation is managing 132,940 hectares and owns 11 mills. In a company assessment from SPOTT, the company scored low, reaching only about 10 percent in terms of sustainability transparency. Most of Albukhary Group’s palm oil loans came from RHB Banking and Maybank, 43 and 40 percent respectively of the Group’s total palm oil loans.
CBI Group (Indonesia) and Johor Group (Malaysia) follow with approximately USD 0.6 billion in palm oil loans outstanding for each. The main subsidiary of CBI Group attracting palm oil loans is the Indonesian Sawit Sumbermas Sarana (SSMS). CRR analysis, using satellite images, shows deforestation and peatland clearance by SSMS. SSMS still continues to clear forest, and it has been excluded from the NDPE market. Outstanding loans to SSMS were provided by Bank Mandiri (USD 179 million) and Bank Negara Indonesia (USD 162 million).
Johor Group, a palm oil grower managing 76,391 hectares of land in Indonesia and Malaysia for palm oil use and the owner of five mills, is an RSPO member since 2009, with 79 percent of its managing land and all its mills currently certified. The majority of loans provided to Johor Group are from RHB Banking and CIMB Group.
Institutional shareholders of the banks may face indirect risk
Figure 7 below and the summary figure on the side show the institutional shareholders in the top-10 banks with outstanding loans to the palm oil sector. Together these financial institutions hold shares in the top-10 palm oil banks of USD 91 billion in terms of value, at the most recent available date. A more detailed figure can be found in the Appendix of this report in Figure 12.
Figure 7: Top 20 institutional shareholders of the top-10 palm oil banks at most recent available filing date
| Shareholder | Country | Value of shares held (USD mln) |
| Permodalan Nasional Berhad | Malaysia | 15,734 |
| BlackRock | United States | 14,550 |
| Ping An Insurance Group | China | 10,980 |
| Employees Provident Fund | Malaysia | 7,384 |
| Vanguard | United States | 6,605 |
| Khazanah Nasional | Malaysia | 4,708 |
| Sumitomo Mitsui Trust | Japan | 4,416 |
| Standard Life Aberdeen | United Kingdom | 3,480 |
| State Street | United States | 3,222 |
| Legal & General | United Kingdom | 2,974 |
| Schroders | United Kingdom | 2,510 |
| KWAP Retirement Fund | Malaysia | 2,256 |
| Prudential (UK) | United Kingdom | 2,136 |
| Lee Foundation | Singapore | 1,777 |
| Capital Group | United States | 1,516 |
| Norwegian Government Pension Fund – Global | Norway | 1,508 |
| JPMorgan Chase | United States | 1,418 |
| UBS | Switzerland | 1,361 |
| Dimensional Fund Advisors | United States | 1,249 |
| California Public Employees’ Retirement System | United States | 1,224 |
| Total | 91,010 | |
Sources: Thomson Reuters Eikon, Chain Reaction Research
A shareholder of a bank providing loans to the palm oil sector could face indirect sustainability risks. The bank’s loan portfolio might be exposed to palm oil companies which face sustainability-related risks. These risks relate to NDPE and market access, and stranded assets as well as legal risks. As a consequence of these sustainability risks, a palm oil company may not be able to serve its debt anymore, leading to a reduction in the loan’s value. Subsequently, the bank would have to write down the loan. Such a scenario would negatively affect the equity value of the bank and finally the share price. Such an example is analysed in a case study at the last subsection of this report looking at Bank Negara Indonesia and its main institutional investors: Prudential UK, Vanguard and BlackRock.
The domino effect: Banks holding shares in other banks
The top 10 banks financing the palm oil sector hold shares in each other. When banks have similar loan portfolios and cross-hold shares, risk increases. Looking at Figure 6, many banks provide loans to the same palm oil companies, resulting in similar exposures. Taking into account Figure 8 and the fact that these banks hold shares in each other, a domino effect could occur from both direct and indirect risks.
OCBC owns shares in multiple banks (see Figure 8). OCBC holds 1.33 percent in Maybank, 1.73 percent in CIMB Group and below 0.1 percent in HSBC, RHB Banking, Bank Mandiri, Bank Rakyat Indonesia and Bank Negara Indonesia. In a scenario that both Maybank and OCBC both provide loans to a palm oil company subjected to sustainability related risks, OCBC would face direct risk as a financier and additional indirect risk due to the shares OCBC holds to Maybank.
From the top 10 banks with loans to palm oil industry, CIMB Group has the most shares held by the other nine banks. Altogether, the other nine banks hold 1.82 percent of CIMB Group. A more detailed figure including all the banks holding shares in each other can be found in the Appendix of this report.
Figure 8: Top-10 palm oil banks holding shares in each other at most recent available filing date
| Bank | % shares outstanding | Value of shares held (USD mln) |
| CIMB Group |
1.82 |
308 |
| Maybank |
1.56 |
446 |
| RHB Banking |
0.77 |
42 |
| HSBC |
0.17 |
282 |
| Bank Mandiri |
0.12 |
27 |
| Bank Rakyat Indonesia |
0.09 |
24 |
| Mizuho Financial |
0.08 |
36 |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation |
0.06 |
21 |
| Bank Negara Indonesia |
0.05 |
5 |
| Total |
– |
1,191 |
Sources: Thomson Reuters Eikon, Chain Reaction Research
Case study: Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) – Exposed to palm oil chain
Bank Negara Indonesia has approximately USD 1 billion outstanding in loans that were issued during the analysed period of this study. This corresponds to 3 percent of the bank’s net loans and 15 percent of its equity (see Figure 4 earlier in the report). Figure 9 below shows the portfolio of BNI’s outstanding palm oil loans per borrower.
Figure 9: Outstanding palm oil loans of Bank Negara Indonesia
| Group | Borrower | Amount (USD mln) |
| Citra Borneo Indah Group (CBI Group) |
Sawit Sumbermas Sarana |
162 |
| Sawit Multi Utama |
68 |
|
| Tanjung Sawit Abadi |
58 |
|
| Kalimantan Sawit Abadi |
39 |
|
| Rajawali Group | BW Plantation (Eagle High Plantation) |
145 |
| Perkebunan Nusantara Group | PTPN VII |
119 |
|
PTPN VIII |
3 |
|
| Sampoerna Group | Selatanjaya Permai |
50 |
| Lanang Agro Bersatu |
38 |
|
| Sawit Selatan |
28 |
|
| Gozco Group | Suryabumi Agrolanggeng |
55 |
| Golden Blossom Sumatra |
47 |
|
| Sinar Mas Group | Sinar Mas Agro Resources |
100 |
| Barito Pacific Group | Grand Utama Mandiri |
62 |
| Tintin Boyok Sawit Makmur |
|
|
| Barito Pacific |
1 |
|
| Sungai Budi Group | Bumi Perkasa Gemilang |
37 |
| JOM Prawarsa Indonesia | Persada Alam Hijau |
5 |
| Total |
1,031 |
|
Sources: Forests & Finance, Chain Reaction Research
The recipients of these loans include a number of companies with known sustainability risks:
- Citra Borneo Indah (CBI) Group owns the PT Sawit Mandiri Lestari plantation via its subsidiary Sawit Sumbermas Sarana (SSMS). However, it sold the plantation to a related entity while subject to a Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) complaint. Approximately 1,000 ha of forest has been cleared at this plantation in 2018. Between 2016 and 2018, deforestation was also seen on SSMS’s PT Kalimantan Sawit Abadi, PT Mitra Mendawai Sejati, PT Sawit Multi Utama and PT Tanjung Sawit Abadi, all of which are located in Central Kalimantan. SSMS have also cleared around 750 ha of peat on PT Borneo Sawit Gemerlang in Central Kalimantan in 2018.
- The Rajawali Group owns Eagle High Plantations (formerly BW Plantation). The Group operates the Arrtu Energy Resources concession in West Kalimantan. During the dry season in September and October 2018, approximately 1,500 ha of peat burned on its concession, land that was possibly set aside as a conservation area. The area is also Bornean orangutan habitat.
- Perkebunan Nusantara (PT PN) has among the highest number of palm oil mills of any developer in Indonesia. It mostly sources from its own plantations and associated smallholders. However, on 15 June 2017, PT PN 13 had announced plans on its website (link now dead) to start sourcing fresh fruit bunches from the Bewani Oil Palm Plantation (BOPPL) in Papua New Guinea. The BOPPL has caused large scale deforestation. The article implies PT PN may have external supply of palm oil that could be linked to deforestation.
- Between 2016 and 2018, Sampoerna Group deforested on the following plantations: PT Lanang Agro Bersatu in West Kalimantan (380 ha), PT Sampoerna Agro in South Sumatra (220 ha of peat), PT Sawit Selatan in South Sumatra (150 ha), PT Sungai Rangit in West Kalimantan (130 ha of peat) and PT Usaha Agro Indonesia (230 ha of peat).
- Sungai Budi Group, the parent company of Tunas Baru Lampung (TBLA), was covered in an April 2018 Chain Reaction Research report detailing forest and peat clearance on PT Samora Usaha Jaya in South Sumatra, PT Solusi Jaya Perkasa in West Kalimantan and PT Bumi Perkasa Gemilang in West Kalimantan. As recently as November 2018, peat was cleared by TBLA on their PT Dinamika Graha Sarana in South Sumatra. Monitoring by CRR partner Aidenvironment has also detected peat clearance on PT Samora Usaha Jaya concessions in South Sumatra in November 2018.
An estimated 79 percent of BNI’s outstanding palm oil loans could impose a sustainability risk. This totals 2.6 percent of the bank’s net loans. Although the bank has a small cushion available to absorb loan losses as equity to net loans ratio (EQL) is 22 percent, 12 percent of the bank’s equity is at risk.
Due to BNI’s exposure to risky loans and the low policy score of the bank, 4 out of 50, the bank’s shareholders could face indirect risk. The government of Indonesia holds 60.6 percent of BNI. Institutional investors Prudential UK and US-based Vanguard and BlackRock hold above 1 percent of BNI’s shares.
Figure 10: Main shareholders of Bank Negara Indonesia at most recent available filing date
| Main shareholders | Country | % |
| Government of Indonesia | Indonesia |
60.6 |
| Prudential (UK) | United Kingdome |
2.1 |
| Vanguard | United States |
1.4 |
| BlackRock | United States |
1.3 |
Source: Thomson Reuters Eikon
Figure 11: Companies with palm oil loans outstanding provided by the top 10 banks as from 2010
| Bank | Company | Amount (USD mln) |
| Bank Mandiri | Perkebunan Nusantara Group | 1,038 |
| Citra Borneo Indah Group (CBI Group) | 179 | |
| Sampoerna Group | 73 | |
| Provident Agro Group | 57 | |
| Harita Group | 51 | |
| Gozco Group | 42 | |
| Carson Cumberbatch Group | 34 | |
| Sungai Budi Group | 26 | |
| Jardine Matheson | 10 | |
| Total Bank Mandiri | 1,510 | |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | Genting Group | 228 |
| Triputra Group | 182 | |
| Austindo Group | 146 | |
| Sime Darby | 123 | |
| Jardine Matheson | 99 | |
| Wilmar Group | 99 | |
| Albukhary Group | 62 | |
| Sampoerna Group | 41 | |
| Johor Group | 37 | |
| Sungai Budi Group | 24 | |
| Cargill | 2 | |
| COFCO | 1 | |
| Total Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 1,042 | |
| Bank Negara Indonesia | Citra Borneo Indah Group (CBI Group) | 326 |
| Rajawali Group | 145 | |
| Perkebunan Nusantara Group | 121 | |
| Sampoerna Group | 116 | |
| Gozco Group | 102 | |
| Sinar Mas Group | 100 | |
| Barito Pacific Group | 78 | |
| Sungai Budi Group | 37 | |
| JOM Prawarsa Indonesia | 5 | |
| Perkebunan Nusantara Group | 288 | |
| Sungai Budi Group | 198 | |
| Rajawali Group | 146 | |
| Sampoerna Group | 85 | |
| Provident Agro Group | 54 | |
| Albukhary Group | 45 | |
| Johor Group | 13 | |
| Wilmar Group | 9 | |
| Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Group | 0.2 | |
| Toba Bara Sejahtra Group | 0.2 | |
| Total Bank Negara Indonesia | 1,869 | |
| Maybank | Albukhary Group | 370 |
| Triputra Group | 176 | |
| Genting Group | 78 | |
| Perkebunan Nusantara Group | 72 | |
| Sungai Budi Group | 58 | |
| Wilmar Group | 9 | |
| Charoen Pokphand Group | 8 | |
| Total Maybank | 772 | |
| RHB Banking | Albukhary Group | 403 |
| Johor Group | 267 | |
| JOM Prawarsa Indonesia | 31 | |
| Wilmar Group | 9 | |
| Total RHB Banking | 710 | |
| CIMB Group | Johor Group | 267 |
| Genting Group | 73 | |
| Sinar Mas Group | 46 | |
| Harita Group | 39 | |
| Carson Cumberbatch Group | 34 | |
| Triputra Group | 25 | |
| Austindo Group | 22 | |
| Charoen Pokphand Group | 10 | |
| Total CIMB Group | 517 | |
| HSBC | Carson Cumberbatch Group | 160 |
| Sime Darby | 123 | |
| Albukhary Group | 52 | |
| Wilmar Group | 34 | |
| Cargill | 9 | |
| Jardine Matheson | 9 | |
| Olam International | 6 | |
| Triputra Group | 3 | |
| Bolloré | 1 | |
| COFCO | 0.2 | |
| Itochu | 0.1 | |
| Total HSBC | 398 | |
| Mizuho Financial | Sime Darby | 123 |
| Wilmar Group | 99 | |
| Jardine Matheson | 49 | |
| Itochu | 30 | |
| Charoen Pokphand Group | 12 | |
| Olam International | 10 | |
| Cargill | 7 | |
| Total Mizuho Financial | 329 | |
| Indonesia Eximbank | Perkebunan Nusantara Group | 144 |
| Citra Borneo Indah Group (CBI Group) | 84 | |
| Sampoerna Group | 44 | |
| JOM Prawarsa Indonesia | 31 | |
| Triputra Group | 23 | |
| Total Indonesia Eximbank | 326 | |
| Total top-10 banks | 7,471 | |
Sources: Forests & Finance, Chain Reaction Research
Figure 12: Top 20 institutional shareholders of the top 10 banks with outstanding loans to the palm oil sector — values at the most recent available date
| Shareholder | Bank | Amount (USD mln) |
| Permodalan Nasional Berhad | Maybank | 13,652 |
| CIMB Group | 1,555 | |
| RHB Banking | 527 | |
| Total Permodalan Nasional Berhad | 15,734 | |
| BlackRock | HSBC | 11,363 |
| Mizuho Financial | 951 | |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 706 | |
| Bank Mandiri | 462 | |
| Bank Rakyat Indonesia | 380 | |
| Maybank | 336 | |
| CIMB Group | 198 | |
| Bank Negara Indonesia | 120 | |
| RHB Banking | 34 | |
| Total Blackrock | 14,550 | |
| Ping An Insurance Group | HSBC | 10,980 |
| Total Ping An Insurance Group | 10,980 | |
| Employees Provident Fund | Maybank | 3,221 |
| RHB Banking | 2,126 | |
| CIMB Group | 1,745 | |
| HSBC | 292 | |
| Total Employees Provident Fund | 7,384 | |
| Vanguard | HSBC | 3,035 |
| Mizuho Financial | 1,148 | |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 733 | |
| Maybank | 480 | |
| Bank Rakyat Indonesia | 386 | |
| CIMB Group | 361 | |
| Bank Mandiri | 288 | |
| Bank Negara Indonesia | 128 | |
| RHB Banking | 46 | |
| Total Vanguard | 6,605 | |
| Khazanah Nasional | CIMB Group | 4,708 |
| Total Khazanah Nasional | 4,708 | |
| Sumitomo Mitsui Trust | Mizuho Financial | 4,283 |
| HSBC | 112 | |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 17 | |
| Bank Mandiri | 2 | |
| Bank Rakyat Indonesia | 1 | |
| Bank Negara Indonesia | 1 | |
| Maybank | 0.4 | |
| CIMB Group | 0.4 | |
| RHB Banking | 0.03 | |
| Total Sumitomo Mitsui Trust | 4,417 | |
| Standard Life Aberdeen | HSBC | 3,032 |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 374 | |
| Bank Mandiri | 42 | |
| Mizuho Financial | 10 | |
| Bank Rakyat Indonesia | 10 | |
| Bank Negara Indonesia | 8 | |
| CIMB Group | 4 | |
| Maybank | 0.3 | |
| RHB Banking | 0.005 | |
| Total Standard Life Aberdeen | 3,480 | |
| State Street | HSBC | 2,871 |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 135 | |
| Mizuho Financial | 79 | |
| Bank Rakyat Indonesia | 50 | |
| Maybank | 38 | |
| Bank Mandiri | 20 | |
| Bank Negara Indonesia | 14 | |
| CIMB Group | 11 | |
| RHB Banking | 4 | |
| Total State Street | 3,222 | |
| Legal & General | HSBC | 2,913 |
| Mizuho Financial | 22 | |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 11 | |
| Maybank | 8 | |
| Bank Rakyat Indonesia | 8 | |
| CIMB Group | 7 | |
| Bank Mandiri | 3 | |
| Bank Negara Indonesia | 1 | |
| RHB Banking | 1 | |
| Total Legal & General | 2,974 | |
| Schroders | HSBC | 1,790 |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 602 | |
| Bank Mandiri | 84 | |
| Bank Negara Indonesia | 17 | |
| Bank Rakyat Indonesia | 9 | |
| Mizuho Financial | 4 | |
| Maybank | 4 | |
| CIMB Group | 1 | |
| Total Schroders | 2,511 | |
| KWAP Retirement Fund | Maybank | 1,087 |
| CIMB Group | 929 | |
| RHB Banking | 211 | |
| HSBC | 29 | |
| KWAP Retirement Fund | 2,256 | |
| Prudential (UK) | HSBC | 1,082 |
| CIMB Group | 359 | |
| Maybank | 225 | |
| Bank Negara Indonesia | 208 | |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 130 | |
| Mizuho Financial | 50 | |
| Bank Mandiri | 38 | |
| RHB Banking | 25 | |
| Bank Rakyat Indonesia | 19 | |
| Total Prudential (UK) | 2,136 | |
| Lee Foundation | Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 1,777 |
| Total Lee Foundation | 1,777 | |
| Capital Group | HSBC | 1,245 |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 228 | |
| Bank Rakyat Indonesia | 19 | |
| Bank Mandiri | 13 | |
| Mizuho Financial | 11 | |
| Total Capital Group | 1,516 | |
| Norwegian Government Pension Fund | Mizuho Financial | 513 |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 316 | |
| Bank Mandiri | 304 | |
| Bank Rakyat Indonesia | 137 | |
| CIMB Group | 106 | |
| Maybank | 92 | |
| Bank Negara Indonesia | 24 | |
| RHB Banking | 16 | |
| Total Norwegian Government Pension Fund | 1,508 | |
| JPMorgan Chase | HSBC | 812 |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 205 | |
| Bank Rakyat Indonesia | 188 | |
| CIMB Group | 68 | |
| Bank Mandiri | 64 | |
| Maybank | 63 | |
| Mizuho Financial | 11 | |
| Bank Negara Indonesia | 7 | |
| RHB Banking | 0.3 | |
| Total JPMorgan Chase | 1,418 | |
| UBS | HSBC | 1,049 |
| Bank Mandiri | 134 | |
| Mizuho Financial | 60 | |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 40 | |
| Maybank | 21 | |
| CIMB Group | 20 | |
| Bank Negara Indonesia | 19 | |
| Bank Rakyat Indonesia | 17 | |
| RHB Banking | 1 | |
| Total UBS | 1,361 | |
| Dimensional Fund Advisors | HSBC | 667 |
| Bank Mandiri | 100 | |
| Mizuho Financial | 99 | |
| Bank Rakyat Indonesia | 87 | |
| Bank Negara Indonesia | 84 | |
| Maybank | 78 | |
| CIMB Group | 68 | |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 51 | |
| RHB Banking | 15 | |
| Total Dimensional Fund Advisors | 1,249 | |
| California Public Employees’ Retirement System | Bank Mandiri | 564 |
| HSBC | 401 | |
| Mizuho Financial | 110 | |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 61 | |
| Bank Rakyat Indonesia | 28 | |
| Maybank | 25 | |
| CIMB Group | 20 | |
| Bank Negara Indonesia | 13 | |
| RHB Banking | 3 | |
| Total California Public Employees’ Retirement System | 1,225 | |
| Total top-20 shareholders | 91,011 | |
Sources: Chain Reaction Research, Thompson Reuters Eikon
Figure 13: Top 10 banks with outstanding loans to the palm oil sector, crossholding shares, most recent available date
| Bank | Shareholder | Amount (USD mln) |
% shares outstanding |
| Maybank | Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 389 | 1.33 |
| CIMB Group | 39 | 0.16 | |
| HSBC | 10 | 0.04 | |
| RHB Banking | 7 | 0.03 | |
| Mizuho Financial | 1 | 0.003 | |
| Total Maybank | 446 | 1.56 | |
| CIMB Group | Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 297 | 1.73 |
| RHB Banking | 6 | 0.05 | |
| HSBC | 5 | 0.04 | |
| Maybank | 0.3 | 0.003 | |
| Mizuho Financial | 0.3 | 0.003 | |
| Total CIMB Group | 308 | 1.82 | |
| HSBC | Mizuho Financial | 237 | 0.15 |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 45 | 0.02 | |
| CIMB Group | 0.2 | 0.0001 | |
| Total HSBC | 282 | 0.17 | |
| RHB Banking | Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 37 | 0.68 |
| CIMB Group | 4 | 0.07 | |
| HSBC | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Mizuho Financial | 0.2 | 0.003 | |
| Maybank | 0.1 | 0.003 | |
| Total RHB Banking | 42 | 0.77 | |
| Mizuho Financial | HSBC | 36 | 0.08 |
| Total Mizuho Financial | 36 | 0.08 | |
| Bank Mandiri | HSBC | 18 | 0.09 |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 4 | 0.02 | |
| Mizuho Financial | 3 | 0.01 | |
| CIMB Group | 2 | 0.01 | |
| RHB Banking | 0.2 | 0.001 | |
| Total Bank Mandiri | 27 | 0.12 | |
| Bank Rakyat Indonesia | HSBC | 15 | 0.06 |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 4 | 0.02 | |
| Mizuho Financial | 3 | 0.01 | |
| CIMB Group | 1 | 0.01 | |
| RHB Banking | 0.2 | 0.001 | |
| Total Bank Rakyat Indonesia | 24 | 0.09 | |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | HSBC | 18 | 0.05 |
| CIMB Group | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Mizuho Financial | 0.3 | 0.001 | |
| RHB Banking | 0.1 | 0.0003 | |
| Total Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 21 | 0.06 | |
| Bank Negara Indonesia | HSBC | 4 | 0.04 |
| Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Mizuho Financial | 0.3 | 0.003 | |
| CIMB Group | 0.2 | 0.002 | |
| RHB Banking | 0.1 | 0.001 | |
| Total Bank Negara Indonesia | 5 | 0.05 | |
| Total top-10 banks | 1,191 | – | |
Sources: Chain Reaction Research, Thomson Reuters Eikon