News Archives » socially responsible investing
Fr. Seamus Finn, OMI to Address Business Ethics Conference in Orange County, CA April 12th, 2011
Fr. Seamus Finn, OMI – Director of the Oblate JPIC Office and Board member of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility – will give the keynote address on corporate responsibility and socially responsible investing. He encourages people to integrate their beliefs — such as caring for the environment and paying workers a fair wage — into their investment and business decisions.
“You don’t have to sacrifice return on your investment or profit from your business by integrating either your beliefs or your values into that process,” Fr. Finn said.
He sees the issue moved to the front burner because of the string of problems in the Middle East.
“What it does for me is shine a spotlight on that part of the world and ask a question about whether or not the U.S. has been turning a blind eye to the plight of a lot of citizens in these countries and imported refugee labor because we need the oil,” he said.
But Fr. Finn, who has been pushing for social responsibility in business for more than two decades, said he sees reason for hope as more companies put the environment and people first with tags like organic and sweatshop-free.
“There’s a reason to be optimistic I think because the consumer — the person who’s out there buying a computer or a car or some piece of clothing — they’re asking more questions about where these things come from,” Finn said. “What I think is intriguing and encouraging is that it’s not as difficult to get answers to these questions as it was 20 years ago. You can take our your iPhone or Android and if you have a question, you can put it in there and someplace out there in this vast web of Internet connectivity you’re going to get some answers.”
Read the article at the Daily Pilot
Socially Responsible Investors Submit Guidance for Conflict Minerals Rule March 29th, 2011
The Oblates joined a large group of socially responsible investors in a letter providing specific comments to the SEC on the Conflict Mineral Provision 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Finance Reform Act.
Congo Week of Action: October 17- 23 October 14th, 2010
The Missionary Oblates JPIC office joins millions around the world in commemorating the Congo Week of Action.
Faith communities, civil society groups in fifty countries and about two hundred universities will mark the week-long set of actions which is designed to raise awareness about the devastating situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and mobilize support on behalf of the country’s people. It will take place from Sunday October 17 to Saturday October 23. 2010.
Democratic Republic of Congo remains one of the largest and most neglected humanitarian crises today with more than six million deaths since 1998. Millions of people have been displaced and many thousands of women and children have
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Seamus Finn, OMI on Nightly Business Report: Discusses Impact of Derivatives on the Poor June 7th, 2010
Fr. Seamus Finn’s work on derivatives is profiled on PBS’s Nightly Business Report.
Watch the Nightly Business Report from June 7, 2010…
How does
the financial system affect the poorest of the poor? Watch the June 7th issue of the Nightly Business Report for a segment on faith-based investors and efforts to rein in the derivatives market – a cause of the recent instability that has affected nearly everyone.
In an interview with Darren Gersh, Seamus Finn, OMI clearly draws the connections between decisions made by bankers and the lives of the poor. Fr. Finn talks about the need for greater disclosure of derivative risk – disclosure that a significant number of other shareholders have favored in recent Resolutions with Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs. Up next is legislation on Capitol Hill that could force banks to spin off their derivatives business.
Watch the Nightly Business Report from June 7, 2010 on Vimeo…
Voting Your Proxy May 17th, 2010
Do you hold stock in publicly owned corporations? If so, you should receive information from those companies prior to their Annual General Meetings (AGM) with a proxy ballot enclosed. Bolster democracy in the Boardroom – join with others and support corporate change you care about.
Learn more in the Faith Responsible Investment section of this website…
