News Archives » Economic Justice
Fr. Seamus Finn Speaks at Socially Responsible Investment Coalition April 29th, 2010
On April 28, Fr. Seamus Finn was a panelist at the annual Socially Responsible Investments Coalition Annual Event held at the Oblate Grotto Ministries Center in San Antonio, Texas. The discussion panel on current events was titled “Care, Climate and Cash.” It included Alyssa Burgin, founder of the Texas Drought Project, who spoke about specific consequences of climate change in Texas and around the world, as well as Donna Meyer of CHRISTUS Health who spoke about the recently passed health care bill.
Fr. Seamus spoke of the progress made recently by ICCR in pressing for socially responsible investment policies with corporations. He highlighted the much-higher-than expected 39 percent vote at Bank of America earlier in the day in support of the religious shareholders’ proxy resolution on derivatives filed by the Missionary Oblates. The Resolution calls for greater disclosure on derivatives trading on Wall Street. This surprising response from Bank of America shareholders and those of Citicorp, where a strong vote of support was also registered for a similar Resolution led to invitations from EWTN and the Daily Show. (Learn more)
Fr. Seamus also talked about responsible investment in the light of Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical “Caritas in Veritate”. As most of the 100 plus members of the audience were members of Catholic religious orders and church activists, the articulation of the moral, spiritual foundation of work for financial reform and other socially responsible investment work was much appreciated. Fr. Seamus ended with a plea to broaden our thinking and awareness so we see that actions taken in the world of finances and investments have implications not only for people in the United States, but consequences for the entire world.
Thanks to Patti Radle who supplied the material for this report.
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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Vatican Radio Interviews Fr. Seamus Finn, OMI Interviewed on Bringing Faith Values to the Financial Sector April 26th, 2010
Putting faith principles back into the world of finance and business is not usually the business of priests, but it is for Oblate Seamus Finn, Director of the Justice, Peace/Integrity of Creation Office of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Washington, DC. Past President of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility and Executive Committee member of 3iG (the International Interfaith Investment Group), Fr. Seamus has worked for two decades to encourage faith institutions to bring their values to bear on corporate decision making.
Fr. Seamus explains why people of faith can and should bring their values to bear on the financial sector in particular in an interview with Vatican Radio. What is the economy for? What does it do to people and how do we participate in it? Is it helpful to local communities? What impacts are the economic structures in which we participate having on people and on the earth? How do we account for the damage done to the environment? Many would say that this system is built on the basis of continual growth and consumption without always taking into account the fact that natural resources are limited.
Learn more – listen to the broadcast…
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)
US JPIC Committee, Oblate Students Attend JPIC, VIVAT and AFJN Meetings in Washington April 22nd, 2010
The US JPIC Committee and the JPIC staff met in Washington, DC from April 14 through the 15th to discuss the JPIC policies and priorities.
Nearly all of the Committee members were able to stay to attend 
a meeting on Friday and Saturday that introduced VIVAT International to North American members of the association. VIVAT is an advocacy effort at the United Nations. The Oblates are presently Associate 
Members , with Daniel LeBlanc, OMI working closely with the group.
Several Oblate students from Zambia then arrived on Friday for the weekend meeting of the Africa Faith and Justice 
Network.
