News Archives » Faith Responsible Investing
From Stewardship to Power: Religious Organizations & Their Investment Potentials June 11th, 2014
A new report from 3iG (International Interfaith Investment Group) makes the case that if negative screening is all that faith-based investment portfolios do, they are missing a major opportunity. Read the full report on ISSU.
Resources to Root Out Slavery June 2nd, 2014
Below are two great resources to help us learn about and do something about modern day slavery. Please check them out.
Know The Chain is a resource that can be used to educate people about the existence of slavery in supply chains. It seeks to open dialogue to help companies build supply chains free of forced labor and trafficking. Visit the site: www.knowthechain.org
The Amistad Movement is a national education campaign, sponsored by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, that works through churches, cultural organizations, and other community-based groups to empower immigrants and local leaders to prevent human trafficking in their communities.
Through the training you will learn how to:
- identify human trafficking and exploitation in the domestic, agricultural, service, and sex industries;
- establish partnerships with coalitions and other organizations dedicated to combating human trafficking;
- support survivors of human trafficking;
- become an ethical employer and consumer; and
- educate others about this modern day slavery
For more information or to schedule a free training in your community please email MRSTRAFF@usccb.org or call (202) 541-3021.
Shareholder Proposal Succeeds in Bringing Google to the Table to Talk about Corporate Taxes May 23rd, 2014
The Oblates supported a shareholder proposal filed by Domini Social Investments with Internet giant, Google, seeking a responsible code of conduct on global tax strategies. Google has agreed to sit down with the investor group and discuss this issue, which is an important element in the conversation around the role of government and the revenue sources available to it to meet its responsibilities.
Adam Kanzer, Managing Director and General Counsel at Domini, wrote an Op Ed to explain the thinking behind the investor position that corporations need to pay their fair share of taxes. In it, he dispels a few myths about US corporate taxes, and argues that a deeper analysis shows that “Corporate tax minimization strategies present serious threats to long-term wealth creation and might pose greater risks than corporate taxation itself.”
Click here to read more »
Oblates Press Banks to Restore Public Trust May 21st, 2014
JP Morgan Chase Tower, Houston, TX; by Gabor Eszes, used under Creative Commons license, Wikimedia Commons
Fr. Seamus Finn OMI represented the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and other members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) at the Annual General Meeting of JP Morgan Chase in Tampa on Tuesday.
Fr. Finn commended the bank on the steps taken thus far to produce a report commissioned by the Board of Directors in response to an ICCR shareholder proposal. The report is to describe “the steps that the Firm has taken to address a number of challenges it faced” since the near collapse of the global financial system in 2008.
Fr. Finn noted that “too many people are still living with the consequences of that crisis and the TRUST and confidence of the public has neither been repaired or restored. We believe the report that we have requested and our company has agreed to complete over the coming months can, when its recommendations are implemented, make a contribution to the restoration of the trust that is necessary for the reliable, safe, effective and ethical functioning of the financial system.”
Read the complete Statement at JP Morgan Chase AGM
OIP joins Domini and other Shareholders in urging Google to pay its fair share of taxes May 11th, 2014
Many companies claim they are forced by shareholders to dodge taxes in order to maximize profits, but what would a company do if its shareholders insist that it actually pay its fair share in taxes?
A group of Google shareholders, headed up by Domini Social Investments, may soon find out. The group has filed a proposal for consideration at the shareholder annual meeting asking the company to adopt a set of principles regarding taxes. The shareholders are recommending that the principles include consideration of any “misalignment between tax strategies and Google’s stated objectives and policies regarding social and environmental sustainability.”
The proposal comes after several widely publicized stories about Google’s aggressive tax planning which moves billions of dollars annually to offshore tax havens. In 2012 alone, Google dodged an estimated $2 billion in income taxes by shifting an estimated $9.5 billion to offshore tax havens.
Continue reading this story from Citizen’s for Tax Justice…
