As Christmas is a time of giving and reflection, we are taking this opportunity to let you know a bit more about the environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives that we are undertaking at Sovereign.
Our people, our clients and wider society expect us to make the right choices, both as a business and as a trusted partner of many other businesses and individuals. Our approach to ESG is becoming increasingly integrated in the work we do across our business and is also subject to the governance and oversight of our both our office management and Board structures.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has long been at the heart of Sovereign – 2023 marks the twentieth anniversary of the creation our own charitable initiative, the Sovereign Art Foundation (SAF). SAF uses the funds it raises through its high-profile Art Prizes to bring the therapeutic benefits of art to support disadvantaged children.
SAF has now raised over USD11 million to help over 35,000 children and families, both directly and indirectly. In Hong Kong, SAF’s ‘Make It Better’ programmes provide expressive arts workshops to support the emotional and behavioural challenges of children with special educational needs. With its own in-house team of Arts Therapists and Facilitators, this year SAF ran additional support programmes for primary caregivers to help them to look after themselves as well as their children.
SAF also provided training workshops for teachers and social workers to further spread the benefits expressive arts can bring to communities. We called this ‘train the trainers’ and it has enabled us to greatly expand the number of children who we can help within our target group in Hong Kong.
While CSR remains at the core of our principles, Sovereign has also established Environmental and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) committees. We have run educational seminars, coordinated beach clean ups across our offices and continue to build environmental awareness. During 2024, we will be committing to environmental goals across the group. We will keep you updated on these pledges.
A few months ago, we ran a group-wide DE&I survey to help us define how we will continue to build awareness in this area and ensure we are providing a safe and supportive environment for people to come to work and to flourish.
Whether directly through our operations or indirectly through advice to clients, we know that Sovereign can make a real and lasting difference, whether close to our offices or much further afield. We wish you and your loved ones all the very best for the festive season.
Learn more about The Sovereign Art Foundation at www.SovereignArtFoundation.com
Director, The Sovereign Art Foundation
Group Marketing Director
EUROPE
Gibraltar to transform authorisation processes with ‘staged approach’
Cyprus commences implementation of new electronic BO register for entities
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EU expects Maltese economy to grow fastest in Europe in 2024
Portuguese Parliament passes Budget Law terminating NHR special tax regime
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Middle East
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RCBI HIGHLIGHT
A Holistic Approach to International Residency and Citizenship Planning
Acquiring an alternative or second residency or citizenship (RC) provides families with a broad spectrum of benefits and opportunities in respect of lifestyle, travel, business, investment and tax, and has become an increasingly popular option worldwide.
SOVEREIGN ESG
SAF further extends the Students Prizes portfolio in 2023
The Sovereign Art Foundation (SAF) Students Prizes are annual awards that celebrate the importance of art in the education system and recognise the quality of artworks produced by secondary-school students across the world.
The first Students Prize was established in 2012 in Hong Kong and has been followed by additional prizes in Bahrain, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, London, Malta, Mauritius, Portugal, Singapore. This year, Chester in the UK was also added to the roster.
The Students Prizes invite teachers from secondary schools to nominate their best art students to submit artworks online. A judging panel of local art professionals then shortlist the 20 best artworks to be exhibited in a public space.
SOVEREIGN STORIES
Chara Chatzichristodoulou
To Limassol in Cyprus today at the eastern end of the Mediterranean for our latest Sovereign Story. Chara Chatzichristodoulou is Legal and AML Compliance Officer in Sovereign’s Cyprus office. We were lucky to catch up with her as she was about to commence a period of maternity leave.