News Archives » faith consistent investing
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.”
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Kidnapping in Nigeria a Tragic Reminder that Trafficking and Slavery Persist Worldwide May 16th, 2014
Constant vigilance and the full participation of all stakeholders is required to guard against hidden human rights abuses.
Over 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped on April 14th by Boko Haram in Nigeria, setting off a firestorm of concern from around the world. In messages to the Nigerian government the extremists have referred to the girls as slaves and threatened to “sell them on the market”. The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), a shareholder coalition that has been working to highlight human trafficking and modern slavery in corporate supply chains, adds it voice to the many religious, governmental, non-governmental and international institutions calling for the mobilization of all necessary resources and expertise to help locate and free the missing girls. The Oblates are active participants in ICCR and work through the coalition to abolish human trafficking and modern day slavery.
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Transparency and Reputation: There Is No Place to Hide April 8th, 2014
Reputation, brand and image are very important priorities for corporations, organizations and institutions. These characteristics and the products and services that they provide are closely related. Because we are now able, in most instances, to put a quantitative value on reputation, brand and image, they are considered as important to overall worth as the products and services that a corporation offers.
Welcome to the age of globalization, the worldwide web, social media and the 24/7 news cycle.
Read the blog on Huffington Post…
Faith-based Investors Celebrate Victory in Wells Fargo Pay Day Lending Decision January 17th, 2014
Wells Fargo, a major US bank targeted by faith-based investors for their harmful pay day lending practices, announced today that they would discontinue their Direct Deposit Advance service. This is a huge victory on behalf of those who have fallen prey to this predatory lending.
In a Shareholder Resolution with Wells Fargo, which the Oblates co-filed in 2012 and 2013, and in dialogs with company officials, ICCR members raised serious concerns about these loans, their impact on people, and the risks to the bank by engaging in such practices.
ICCR issued a press release on the bank’s decision:
After a long-term engagement with Wells Fargo to promote more responsible lending products, today members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) wish to commend management for making the right decision in ending its Direct Deposit Advance program. The company issued a statementtoday announcing that it would discontinue the product effective February 1st.
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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…
