BNY Mellon Helps to Build a Primary School in the Yunnan Province of China

BNY Mellon Sowers Hope Baka Primary School opens

News provided by

May 25, 2010, 08:51 ET

HONG KONG, May 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BNY Mellon, the global leader in asset management and securities servicing, has partnered with Hong Kong-based charity Sowers Action to fund the rebuilding of Baka Primary School, located in Mengku Village in the Yunnan province of southwest China. Sowers Action is a non-profit organisation that helps children in China acquire basic education by giving them the opportunity to learn and study in a safe environment.

The village's existing school was founded in 1952 and the current buildings were built in the 1980s. The academic building had fallen into a state of disrepair. For 18 months BNY Mellon employees worked to raise funds for a new school building that would also enable the school to take in more boarders and children from outlying areas.

Building work commenced on the BNY Mellon Sowers Hope Baka Primary School in March 2009 and was recently completed. In addition to providing a grant toward the project, the company has supported a variety of employee team fundraising events and will purchase sporting equipment and library books. A group of employees recently attended the official opening and spent a day volunteering at the school.

The new school will allow for 170 pupils, 100 of whom will be boarders, as well as four permanent and five temporary teachers, all of whom will live at the school. The new building will house seven classrooms and a long-distance teaching classroom, laboratory and teachers' office. The current building will be remodelled into dormitories, teachers' accommodations, a library, storeroom and bathroom.

"Our company has a strong history of doing what is right and helping to build a better world," said Larry Chen, Chief Representative of BNY Mellon's Beijing office. "We have a passion for doing the right things for our people, clients, and societies in which we operate. The efforts of our employees in Hong Kong and Mainland China to raise funds for a new school is one of our greatest community partnership successes to date, and brings honour on our company. BNY Mellon is a company that cares."

"Through projects like Baka Primary School, we are able to make a significant and lasting impact — or, as we call it, Powering Potential — through helping others to be educated and trained for success at work," added Christopher Sturdy, Chairman of Asia-Pacific, BNY Mellon. "We support organizations and initiatives that drive positive change in our communities and we are doing this through a combination of direct financial support by the company as well as generous donations of time and money from our employees around the world."

Notes to editors

BNY Mellon (NYSE: BK) is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation. BNY Mellon is a global financial services company focused on helping clients manage and service their financial assets, operating in 34 countries and serving more than 100 markets. BNY Mellon is a leading provider of financial services for institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals, providing superior asset management and wealth management, asset servicing, issuer services, clearing services and treasury services through a worldwide client-focused team. It has $22.4 trillion in assets under custody and administration, $1.1 trillion in assets under management, services $11.8 trillion in outstanding debt and processes global payments averaging $1.5 trillion per day. Additional information is available at www.bnymellon.com.

SOURCE BNY Mellon