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ICCR Members on The Daily Show: Holier Than Dow June 20th, 2010

Members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) working on financial reform appear on The Daily Show. Samantha Bee interviewed the group of Catholics: Seamus Finn, OMI, Sr. Barbara Aires, SCNJ, Fr. Joe LaMar, MM and Cathy Rowan, representing the Maryknoll Sisters.

Watch the video:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Holier Than Dow
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

Watch the video on the Daily Show website

Senate Financial Reform Bill Passes the Senate May 26th, 2010

Despite huge opposition from the big Wall Street banks, the financial reform bill passed in the Senate on May 20th. This is an important step in reining in the casino economy and in creating a banking system that serves Main Street, not just Wall Street.

Here’s what the Senate bill will do if made law:

• Create a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB will be a watchdog for consumers to protect them from questionable mortgages and credit card deals.
• End the casino economy bring the $600 trillion derivatives market into the light of day with the advent of exchange trading (transparency) and capital requirements (insuring accountability).

Read more about the bill on the website of Americans for Financial Reform.

The next step in the legislative process is the House and Senate conference committee which will hammer out the differences between the two bills. (Read about the House version here.) Once the committee agrees on a bill, it must be passed by a majority in the House and by 60 votes in the Senate.

Visit Americans for Financial Reform to find out what you can do to insure sensible financial reform happens.

Goldman CEO Calls for Internal Review; ICCR Derivatives Resolution Garnered 33.7% of Shareholder Vote! May 9th, 2010

The head of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, at the company’s Annual Meeting last Friday, promised to conduct an internal review of the company’s business practices to make sure it was serving its customers and the public interest. The government has accused the bank of defrauding some clients in a derivatives deal.

The Missionary Oblates, along with other faith-based shareholders, filed a Resolution calling for greater transparency on derivatives trading, which captured 33.7% of the shareholder vote, a significant amount. Similar resolutions filed with Citigroup and Bank of America have won 30% and 39% of the shareholder vote, respectively, despite company opposition.

Strong 39% Vote at Bank of America for Religious Shareholders’ Proxy Resolution Maintains Growing Pressure for More Derivatives Disclosure on Wall Street April 28th, 2010

Vote at BofA’s Annual Meeting Comes on Heels of 30 Percent Support at Citigroup on Same Resolution; More Disclosure Vital at BofA Given How Mishandling of CDOs Tripped Up BofA’s Merrill Lynch.

In the second major 2010 shareholder vote urging more derivatives disclosure, a much higher-than-expected 39 percent of Bank of America (BofA) shares were cast today in support of a resolution sponsored by faith-based institutional investors belonging to the 300-member Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR). The BofA shareholder vote took place as Congress debates the fate of financial regulatory reform, including increased derivatives disclosure.

The Bank of America shareholder vote improves on a 30 percent support level for the same proxy resolution at Citigroup on April 20, 2010. The ICCR member-sponsored resolution gave Bank of America shareholders an opportunity, as it did at Citigroup, to express their concerns about the lack of transparency in the derivatives market that contributed significantly to the financial crisis.

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Bank of America is 2nd Major U.S. Financial Institution to Face Derivatives Proxy Vote By Shareholders April 26th, 2010

The verdict at BofA’s Wednesday Annual Meeting comes on the heels of a huge 30 percent support at Citigroup on the same Resolution. Of the four derivatives disclosure resolutions being filed, that with BofA may be the most telling, considering how the mishandling of Credit Default Swaps (a type of derivative) tripped up BofA’s Merrill Lynch.

With a much higher-than-expected 30 percent of Citigroup shares voted on April 20th in favor of more disclosure of derivatives practices, the focus now shifts to Bank of America (BofA), where shareholders will vote Wednesday (April 28th) on the same resolution sponsored by faith-based institutional investors belonging to the 300-member Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR). The BofA vote will take place as Congress debates the fate of financial regulatory reform, including increased derivatives disclosure.

The resolution gives shareholders an opportunity, as they did at Citigroup, to express their concerns about the lack of transparency in the derivatives market that contributed significantly to the financial crisis. The higher-than-expected vote from Citigroup shareholders resulted even though the United States government, which controls 27 percent of Citigroup as a result of the bank bailouts, failed to fully support the resolution.

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Senate Urged to Include Derivatives Regulation in Financial Reform Bill April 25th, 2010

The Oblates joined a broad array of groups concerned about commodity speculation in urging the inclusion of a bill regulating derivatives in the larger Senate financial reform legislation being debated this week. Specifically, the groups are asking that the “Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act” (reported out of the Agriculture Committee on Wednesday by a bipartisan vote), be incorporated into the “American Financial Stability Act” (S.3217) – otherwise known as the comprehensive “Wall Street Reform” bill.

The Missionary Oblates signed a letter generated by the Commodity Markets Oversight Coalition, an informal alliance of industry groups, consumer advocates and academics, representing commodity producers, processors, distributors, retailers, and residential, commercial and industrial end-users. The signatories believe that policy in the commodity trading markets should aim to strengthen oversight, transparency and stability, and to address inadequacies in the existing derivatives markets, both regulated and over-the-counter. As faith-based shareholders, the Missionary Oblates have been pressing for better management of derivatives in discussions with the financial services sector for a number of years.

Read the letter… (Download PDF)

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