News Archives » North America
ICCR Shareholders Confront Banks Over Recent Scandals December 20th, 2013
The efforts of the Missionary Oblates and other ICCR faith-based shareholders to call the major banks to account in the wake of a flood of legal scandals and regulatory investigations, has won the attention of the media.
An article in the Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch, highlights the shareholder proposals filed by religious shareholder groups with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. JPM , Bank of America Corp. BAC and Wells Fargo & Co. WFC asking for a report on “business standards”. The proposal says, “We believe shareholders deserve a full report on what the bank has done to end these unethical activities, to rebuild credibility and provide new strong, effective checks and balances within the bank,” the shareholders write in the Wells Fargo proposal, with similar language for the other two banks. “While press releases describe specific settlements or new reforms, the overall picture has not been reported adequately to shareholders.”
Father Seamus Finn, a board member of ICCR, and a shareholder lead with several of the banks, called the requests “a win-win” for the banks and shareholders, giving them an opportunity to showcase how they’re addressing “the many issues of the day.”
Learn more. Read the WSJ article…
Predatory Hedge Funds and Argentina Face Supreme Court Showdown December 17th, 2013
Majority Debt Holders Seek to End Standoff between Argentina and Holdouts
Argentina is expected to appeal to the US Supreme Court by mid-February in response to a US 2nd Circuit Court ruling ordering the country to pay $1.33 billion to predatory hedge funds. The precedent the case sets will hurt poor countries in financial distress and could allow a small group of hedge funds to target assets that benefit vulnerable populations. At the same time, debt holders who restructured their debt with Argentina have hired lawyers to help negotiate the dispute between holdout hedge funds and Argentina. Nearly 93% of debt holders restructured their debt with Argentina after the 2001 default. The majority of bondholders are concerned that their settlements could be disrupted if hedge funds win the final ruling.
“We agree with the concerns of the restructured bondholders,” said Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA Network, a faith-based antipoverty organization. “We join the IMF, World Bank and White House in denouncing this extreme hedge fund behavior that takes advantage of the world’s poorest people.”
Click here to read more »
Solidarity with the Fast for Families Seeking Immigration Reform December 14th, 2013
![1504144_10200817076938892_573122049_n[1]](http://omiusajpic.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/1504144_10200817076938892_573122049_n1.jpg)
On November 12th, activists and faith leaders in San Antonio, Texas, offered support to the fasters on the Mall in Washington, D.C. calling for the US Congress to take action on immigration reform. As the D.C. fast came to an end, members of the San Antonio community participated in two activities designed to keep consciousness of the effects of the fast alive.
In the morning, a press conference was held at the Cesar E. Chavez Education and Legacy Foundation to announce the beginning of the passing of the “cruzita” (cross), much like Cesar Chavez did during his famous hunger strike. The Foundation passed a cross to its members asking them to fast for at least a day, to let people know why they are fasting, and then to past the cross on to someone else.
In the evening, as people gathered for prayer and Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in the inner city, the Foundation came to the church to announce the passing of the cruzita and to ask organizations and individuals, “Who will join this fast?” Community volunteers made small crosses and offered them to people as they entered the church. All 20 crosses that were made were accepted and more could have been distributed. San Antonio will continue to raise its voice for justice and dignity for immigrants.
(With gratitude to Patti Radle, a member of the Oblate JPIC Committee who helped to organize this fast for families, and Fr Bob Wright OMI, who also participated in the event.)
Bob Wright and Patti Radle are on the left.
Dialogue on Life and Mining from Latin America December 10th, 2013
Religious and Lay representatives from Latin America, “moved by the critical situation of our peoples vis-à-vis the extractive industry”, met in Lima in November 2013. Concerned that mining is a source of “constant and serious conflict” in many countries of Latin and Central American countries, the attendees wanted to develop a vigorous and supportive set of local and international networks to help address the destructive impacts of mining. The Missionary Oblates were represented by Fr. Gilberto Pauwels OMI from Bolivia, and Fr. Seamus Finn OMI from the United States and through their participation in VIVAT, a coalition of religious congregations with ECOSOC status at the United Nations.
There are a number of outcomes from the gathering that included reaching out to a larger number of communities affected by mining, engaging with the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace at the Vatican and convening a broader consultation on the challenges of extractives in the second half of 2014.
Extractives, mining oil and gas exploration, play an important role across the world while also imposing great intrusion and damage in local communities and on the environment where they operate. The search for a way forward that addresses the most serious of those negative impacts has been taken up by a number of different initiatives in the academic, business, stakeholder and shareholder and NGO sectors. Hopefully gatherings like the meeting in Lima can make a constructive contribution to that process.
Read the statement: Dialogue on Life and Mining: Open letter from religious and lay stewards of the goods of creation in Latin America
Liturgical Resources for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe – December 12 December 6th, 2013
December 12 is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, also called the Patroness of the Americas. Catholics are invited to celebrate this feast and use it as an opportunity to pray, reflect and advocate for comprehensive immigration reform. Resources for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe are available here…
