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Genocide in your wallet? Tell JPMorgan Chase to avoid investments tied to genocide

Friday, April 22nd, 2011

Cross posted from Investors Against Genocide

IAG tells JPMorgan Chase to use its money responsibly

For years, JPMorgan Chase has been one of the world’s largest investors in PetroChina, which, through its closely related parent, CNPC, is one of the worst offenders in funding the genocide in Darfur.

Investors Against Genocide (I.A.G.) has been leading a campaign of shareholder proposals at financial institutions with large holdings in PetroChina.  You may be aware of the earlier voting on I.A.G.’s genocide-free investing shareholder proposal at Fidelity or Vanguard.  Or, you may be aware of I.A.G.’s successful engagement with TIAA-CREF or American Funds.  Now, genocide-free investing is on shareholder ballot at JPMorgan Chase.

Between now and May 17, shareholders at JPMorgan Chase will be voting to determine whether or not one of the largest financial institutions in the world should make an effort to avoid investments in companies, like PetroChina, that “substantially contribute to genocide or crimes against humanity.”

The choice seems obvious.  But, JPMorgan Chase opposes the proposal and tells shareholders that they should vote against it.  JPMorgan Chase says that it already factors human rights issues into its decision-making: “While we share the shareholder’s concern about human rights generally and about genocide in particular, we believe the firm’s existing policies and procedures appropriately address these issues.”  One has to wonder what JPMorgan Chase believes is appropriate about owning $1.3 billion worth of PetroChina, about 5% of the outstanding shares, when it is widely recognized for its ties to Sudan.

Do you have a Chase credit card or bank account?  Are you a JPMorgan customer? If not, you are still a potential customer, and your opinion matters to JPMorgan Chase. Research has shown that 88% of Americans do not want financial ties to companies, such as PetroChina, that help to support genocide.  Now there is an opportunity for JPMorgan Chase to hear your voice in preparation for the shareholder vote at JPMorgan Chase’s annual meeting on May 17.

Please sign the petition telling Jamie Dimon, the head of JPMorgan Chase, that you want the company to adopt a genocide-free investing policy and stop investing in PetroChina and other companies supporting genocide.

If you own shares in JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), please be sure to vote for genocide-free investing; it is question 10 on the ballot.  If not, spread the word to anyone you know that may be a shareholder.
For more about the vote, read Laura Heaton at Enough, Institutional Investor, or I.A.G.

Eric Cohen is the Chairperson and co-founder of Investors Against Genocide and the Chairperson of the Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur.

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Hearing Provides Opportunity to Address Intersection of Business and Human Rights

Wednesday, December 29th, 2010

On November 30th, the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade held a hearing titled “Investments Tied to Genocide: Sudan Divestment and Beyond.”  During the hearing, the subcommittee expressed interest in evaluating the effectiveness of the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act (SADA) of 2007 and seeing what lessons from the Sudan movement could potentially be applied to help respond to genocide more broadly.

The hearing featured testimony from Thomas Melito the Director of International Affairs and Trade for the Government Accountability Office, Eric Cohen the Chairperson of Investors Against Genocide, Adam Kanzer the Managing Director and General Counsel for Domini Social Investments LLC, and Ambassador Richard Williamson the former U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan.

Members of Congress in attendance included Subcommittee Chairman Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Subcommittee Ranking Member Gary Miller (R-CA), Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN).

Applying Lessons-Learned from the Sudan Movement

We are proud to note that Genocide Intervention Network (GI-NET)—through the Sudan Divestment Task Force (SDTF)—served as the clearinghouse for the Sudan divestment movement.  Moreover, the work of GI-NET and Save Darfur was critical to ensuring the successful passage of SADA.

We greatly appreciate the subcommittee’s work to pull together the hearing, their interest in wanting to improve the effectiveness of SADA and their desire to take action in response to future instances of genocide and mass atrocities.  To this end, we would like to note a few critical elements of the GI-NET/Save Darfur experience and propose recommendations for the subcommittee’s consideration moving forward.

Background on the Sudan Divestment Movement

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signs the state's divestment bill into law in September 2006.

When the Sudan Divestment Task Force (SDTF) was founded in 2006 there was a significant gap in information on which companies were operating on the ground in Sudan.  There was also limited policy expertise on how to most effectively approach companies working in an area where the United States Government had declared genocide was taking place.  In order to fill these gaps, SDTF conducted and maintained extensive research into which industries were problematic in Sudan and further determined which companies served a problematic role within those industries.  This research has been compiled into quarterly reports that are still continuously updated today.  Specific to policy, SDTF learned early on that problematic corporate behavior could in some cases be addressed through engagement, and that divestment could be an effective tool if used as a last resort after engagement was attempted. The emphasis on engagement over blanket divestment was a cornerstone of the movement and one of the reasons the policy has been successful.

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Pennsylvania Divests from Sudan

Monday, August 9th, 2010

Save Darfur's Earlier Divestment Campaign

Pennsylvania, following the lead of 27 other states, has now divested from Sudan, refusing to play a hand in supporting the ongoing atrocities in Sudan. On July 7th, Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell signed Senate Bill 928, Protecting Pennsylvania’s Investments Act, into law. The legislation, which passed the Pennsylvania House unanimously and the Senate by a 42 to 7 vote, will require Pennsylvania to withdraw its investments from companies that conduct business in Sudan and Iran.

The state Treasurer’s Office, Public School Employees Retirement System, State Employees Retirement System, and Pennsylvania Municipal Retiree System will divest around $400 million over the next three years.

Two Pennsylvanian advocacy groups were key in pushing for this piece of legislation. The Darfur Alert Coalition of Philadelphia and The Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition (PDEC) generated support for divestment throughout the state. PDEC collected thousands of signatures to call for a divestment bill and also conducted a survey of State Senators regarding how they might vote on divestment legislation.

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China Reconsiders Sudan’s Black Gold

Monday, August 9th, 2010

Sudan and PetroChina have had a long and notorious relationship.  The Chinese government has received frequent criticism over its dealings with PetroChina and its support of the corrupt and genocidal government of Sudan.

Photo taken by Genocide Intervention Network

Oil is one of Sudan’s most profitable exports and helps keep the regime of President Omar al-Bashir supplied with cash. PetroChina and its parent company China National Petroleum Corporation hold the largest stakes in Sudan’s black gold.

However, recent developments give us reason to hope that this relationship might change. Not too long ago, PetroChina announced that it will renovate a refinery which was previously capable of only processing Sudanese crude oil. The renovations will allow the plant to process crude oil from other areas such as Angola, which has become another one of China’s leading oil suppliers. This progressive move may be in part a result of pressure that the company has received from Washington.  The United States Government advised the Chinese company to stop producing Sudanese crude oil at the new refinery, and has imposed economic sanctions on Sudan for years.

Though PetroChina officials claim the transformation of the plant is due to the high cost of processing Sudanese crude oil, many believe that the efforts made by the United States and the sanctions are playing a larger part in the decision than the company would like to admit. China, and specifically PetroChina, have hardly been worthy of praise regarding their involvement in Sudan, but this development deserves some encouragement.  Sudan remains China’s  sixth largest oil supplier, but this recent move may signal a much desired  shift in the economic and political relationship between the two nations.

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American Public Demands Genocide-Free Investments

Friday, June 25th, 2010

Investors Against Genocide (IAG), a project of the Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur, has released its first white paper and new public survey results on investments that financially support regimes accused of genocide and crimes against humanity.

The paper addresses the American public’s increased demand for investments that are genocide-free, how the investments in question are tied to the atrocities being committed in Darfur, and how financial advisors can respond to concerned Americans’ demands and alternatives to these tainted investments.

IAG’s survey found that an overwhelming 88% of Americans want their investments to be free from any association with genocide and 84% say they will cease using any American company to manage their money that does business with firms that support such regimes.

According to IAG, 70% of the Sudanese regime’s oil revenue goes towards funding the ongoing genocide in Darfur. Even though the United States government has economic sanctions in place that bar American companies from doing business in Sudan, many American investors are unknowingly supporting the continuation of mass atrocities in Darfur due to by entrusting their investments to American companies that hold considerable investments in foreign firms that continue to conduct business with the Sudanese government. IAG notes that American firms like Fidelity Investments, Franklin Templeton, and Vanguard work with companies, like PetroChina, that directly profit from the Sudanese oil industry.

On a positive note, firms like American Funds and TIAA-CREF have responded to the American public’s demand by divesting from foreign firms doing business that enables the Sudanese government to continue its genocidal campaign.

Take action to ensure that your investments do not benefit companies that continue to support the genocide in Darfur.

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Unitarians Dump Fidelity For TIAA-CREF To Be Genocide-Free

Thursday, May 27th, 2010
Investors Against Genocide Protest

IAG Protest (Photo: AP)

On May 21, 2010, the Board of Trustees of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) announced its unanimous decision to end the association’s 10 year relationship with Fidelity and move its $178 million retirement accounts to TIAA-CREF.  The UUA was an early member of the Save Darfur Coalition and has worked closely with Investors Against Genocide in our effort to persuade major mutual fund companies like Fidelity to commit to genocide-free investing.  Beginning in 2007, the UUA tried unsuccessfully to persuade Fidelity to divest in companies with ties to the Sudanese government, particularly two giant Chinese oil companies, PetroChina and Sinopec.

According to its press release, the change in companies was spurred by the UUA’s growing commitment to genocide-free investing coupled with its disappointment in Fidelity’s persistent refusal to consider human rights in their investment choices.  “We are morally bound to consider the impact of our financial decisions, stated UUA President Rev. Peter Morales.  “We couldn’t continue to watch passively as money we earned through religious service was directed to companies profiting from a genocidal regime.  As clients of Fidelity, we tried to create change from within, but after four years, it became clear that Fidelity’s position on investing in the Sudan hadn’t changed one iota.”

This important decision by the UUA was widely reported in the financial media.

The Unitarian Universalist Association is a leading example that Americans, once they become aware, are overwhelmingly opposed to being financially connected to genocide.  Fund managers, such as Fidelity, who resist making a commitment to genocide-free investing, should see that UUA’s action reflects a competitive marketplace in which customers have clear, mainstream alternatives that are genocide-free.

IAG encourages individuals to follow the UUA’s lead in making their personal or company investments genocide-free:

  • Consider moving your investments to American Funds or TIAA-CREF, the two mainstream investment firms that have human rights policies and have taken substantial action in support of those policies.  If you decide to do so after reviewing how the funds meet your personal financial and non-financial criteria, please write the company you are leaving as well as the company receiving your money to let management know why you have made this important decision.  Click here for details on the commitment to genocide-free investing by American Funds and TIAA-CREF.
  • Volunteer to submit a shareholder proposal to mutual funds you’ve held for over a year and in which you have at least $2,000 invested.  The successes with American Funds and TIAA-CREF demonstrate that our shareholder resolutions are effectively pressuring mutual fund companies since both companies changed their policies only after receiving shareholders proposals from IAG volunteers.  Now we need more volunteers to submit our recently updated and strengthened proposal to companies like Vanguard, Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton that continue to hold large investments in problem companies.  We’ve made the submission process easy and confidential. Click here for details.

Your action can make a difference.  Oppose financial institutions investing your savings and pension funds in companies that substantially contribute to genocide.  Join us in telling the financial industry to draw the line at investing in genocide.

Eric Cohen is the Co-Founder and Chairperson of Investors Against Genocide.

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Activists spur Palin divestment

Friday, October 10th, 2008

As posted on blogs.ABCnews.com:

Informed by ABC News that She Owns Mutual Fund with Sudan Holdings, Palin Says She Will Divest

10 Oct 2008 12:51 PM

Informed by ABC News that she holds an investment in a mutual fund that owns shares in companies that human rights organizations say help the government of Sudan, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Friday said through a spokesman that she will divest from that mutual fund.

According to financial disclosure forms Palin released last week (read them HERE). Palin owns up to $15,000 in Legg Mason International Equities, which the McCain-Palin campaign specified is the Legg Mason International Equity Fund.

Read the full article.

Posted in Divestment, Presidential Election | 1 Comment »

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Alaska Divestment and Governor Sarah Palin

Friday, October 3rd, 2008

Last night during the vice presidential debate, I held my breath during the answer to a question on Darfur. Because I have been working on divestment efforts over the past year, I was hoping that Governor Palin would discuss the Alaska divestment legislation that our partner organization the Sudan Divestment Task Force worked so diligently on with activists in Alaska during the last year’s legislative session.

Governor Palin did discuss the bill and came out publicly in support of it. She touted the bill as a law that must be passed “because all of us, as individuals, and as humanitarians and as elected officials should do all we can to end those atrocities in that region of the world”.

This coming year, we must work to hold her to her pledge to do all she can. While her words have yet to result in action, there is a new opportunity in the coming legislative year. (more…)

Posted in Divestment, Presidential Election | 1 Comment »

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The Darfur Contracting Act of 2008 Becomes Law in California

Monday, September 29th, 2008

Last Wednesday, Governor Schwarzenegger signed The Darfur Contracting Act into law. This important move will bring pressure to bear directly companies that are very interested in California contracts that until today have not taken steps to stop their revenue from helping to fund the Sudanese military. We will be following through with them to make sure that they change those operations and confront the Sudanese government.

Thanks to the ideas, words, emails and the consistent support of activists across the state, the Sudanese government will have to face further economic consequences for its truly unconscionable behavior. California groups took the lead in passing this law, including Jewish World Watch, American Jewish Committee, San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition, Armenian National Committee, Genocide Intervention Network, STAND: A Student Anti- Genocide Coalition, Sudan Divestment Task Force, Orange County for Darfur, Americans Against the Darfur Genocide, Genocide No More-Save Darfur, Sacramento Committee on Conscience and others.

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Posted in Divestment | No Comments »

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The Darfur Contracting Act Passes the California Legislature

Wednesday, September 10th, 2008

On August 31, the California contract prohibition law AB 498 passed both the Senate and the Assembly in California! The California legislature was in overtime session at the end of the month, so they were working late on Sunday when this bill passed both houses of the legislature.

Assembly Member Ed Hernandez authored The Darfur Contracting Act, A. B. 498, a law that will prohibit the state of California from doing business with the companies that help fund the genocide in Darfur. Through contract prohibition, this bill will ensure that the state of California does not enter into or renew contracts with companies that help fund the genocide.

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Posted in Divestment | 2 Comments »

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