News Archives » socially responsible investing
Religious Proposal on Swaps Disclosure Gets Attention April 6th, 2010
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. aren’t doing “God’s work” when it comes to derivatives, according to investor groups of nuns and priests. The investors were referring to a remark made last November by Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein’s who said he was a banker doing “God’s work”
“The use of these instruments, if they’re not disclosed by the dealers and the information made available, by their very nature can contribute to systemic risk,” said Father Seamus Finn, a director with the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Washington, D.C., one of the co-sponsors of the resolutions.
Shareholders will vote starting this month on proposals sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth and 14 other religious organizations, asking Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. to give more information on the collateral used in their derivatives trading.
It’s the first time the four banks, among the largest U.S. swaps dealers, will put to a nonbinding vote a call to explain how collateral of derivatives customers is used and to keep it from other accounts. Congress is considering bills that would require more derivatives deals be processed through clearinghouses, privately owned third parties that guarantee transactions and keep track of collateral and margin.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in February and March decisions, backed the religious groups’ bid to put the proposal up for a vote by shareholders of JPMorgan, Bank of America and Citigroup. New York-based Goldman Sachs, the most profitable firm in Wall Street history, agreed separately to add the resolution to its proxy statement.
Articles on this proposal appeared late last week in Bloomberg and Bloomberg Business Week. Read the full story here…
Support the Energy Security Through Transparency Act of 2009 March 1st, 2010
The Energy Security through Transparency Act of 2009 (S.1700), also called the ESTT Act was introduced in September 2009 and needs your support!
The ESTT Act requires gas, oil and mineral companies registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange to disclose payments to foreign governments for the commercial extraction of oil, natural gas and minerals.
Click here to read more »
Oblates Join Broad Coalition in Call for Reform of Financial Markets February 8th, 2010
Commodity Markets Oversight Coalition and Americans for Financial Reform Call for Reforms that Could Have Prevented Economic Crisis and Commodities Bubbles
The Missionary Oblates, long active in shareholder advocacy, have been pressing for major reforms in derivatives trading and commodity speculation in their dialogs with major banks and other financial services institutions. Recently, the Oblates joined a broad coalition calling for needed reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat of last year’s financial meltdown.
Advocates for financial reform have formed a powerful partnership with business interests ranging from heating and motor fuels retailers to cotton marketers, and trucking companies to airlines, and this new alliance is calling on Congress and Federal Regulators to bring derivatives out of the shadows and into the daylight.
Read the Coalition’s “Joint Statement of Shared Principles for Needed Reforms in the Futures/Derivatives Markets.”
Click here to read more »
2009 Global Parliament of Religions Gather in Australia December 7th, 2009
There are No Jobs on a Dead Planet
The Rev. Seamus Finn, OMI will speak at the fifth global conference of the Parliament of World Religions which is meeting from December 3 to 9, 2009 in Melbourne, Australia. The Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions aims to cultivate harmony among the world’s religious and spiritual communities and foster their engagement with the world and its guiding institutions in order to achieve a just, peaceful and sustainable world.
The theme for the 2009 Parliament is “Make a World of Difference: Hearing each other, Healing the earth.” The 2009 Parliament will welcome over 10,000 people from 80 countries to take part in approximately 500 events including keynote addresses, seminars, conferences, debates, performances, concerts and exhibitions.
Click here to read more »
Chevron Human Rights Resolution Supported by Oblates June 18th, 2009
Using a proxy from the Missionary Oblates, Michael Eisenscher of U.S. Labor Against the War addressed the Annual General Meeting of the Chevron Corporation on May about the company’s efforts to profit from Iraqi oil. The company profited, in particular, from a widely-opposed oil law that would give foreign corporations like Chevron almost complete control of Iraq’s oil industry, to the detriment of the rights of ordinary Iraqis.
Members of the True Cost of Chevron coalition presented their alternative annual report directly to Chevron management and CEO David O’Reilly (who disparagingly responded during the meeting that it “deserves the trash can”). Edited and painstakingly researched by Antonia Juhasz, with help from a coalition of over a dozen groups, “The True Cost of Chevron” highlights the tragic human consequences that are the flip side of the record profits Chevron collected in 2008. It can be downloaded for free at http://truecostofchevron.com/report.html
Chevron is finding itself increasingly in the spotlight over the harmful consequences of its operations, and shareholders are deeply concerned, as evidenced by the 28% support yet again this year for the resolution calling for a clear human rights policy. 28% is considered extremely good performance for a shareholder resolution of this type. Investors representing billions of dollars in Chevron stock have spoken up in support of greater social responsibility, and although the True Cost of Chevron’s coalition’s speakers inside the meeting were treated dismissively by CEO O’Reilly, Chevron is taking notice.
