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FTSE4Good deletes software giant Oracle over human and labour rights

US software giant Oracle Corp. is to be deleted from the FTSE4Good index series, index firm FTSE’s corporate responsibility standards suite, over human and labour rights. Oracle is one of seven companies that will be deleted as of March 18 as part of the latest semi-annual review. The others are Home Depot (environmental management and human and labour rights), National Semiconductor (human/labour rights), Kurita Water Industries (bribery), Shin-Etsu Chemical (bribery), UMECO (bribery) and Morgan Crucible (weapons systems). They failed to meet tougher requirements in time for the review. Last September Responsible Investor reported that Oracle was resisting a proposal by socially responsible investing firm Harrington Investments that it set up a board committee on sustainability. The deletions come as South Korea and Israel have been added to the FTSE4Good Global universe, bringing it in line with FTSE’s decision to raise South Korea and Israel to developed market status. As a result, 11 South Korean and eight Israeli companies have been identified as meeting the inclusion criteria and will be entering the index series at this review. FTSE’s research partner EIRIS has partnerships with local researchers Greeneye (Israel) and KOCSR (South Korea). In total 73 companies will be added to the index series, with 54 new entrants to the index being added because they now meet the criteria. In another development reflecting the evolution of sustainability indices, companies involved in nuclear power generation are no longer excluded. Instead they will be evaluated against “detailed industry-specific criteria”. As a result, Enel will now be included, following Iberdrola last year. “It is expected that this will lead to improved standards across the industry as other nuclear power companies will also work to improve practices to gain index inclusion,” FTSE said. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: Global | Company: Oracle Corp, Home Depot, National Semiconductor , Kurita Water Industries, Shin-Etsu Chemical, UMECO, Morgan Crucible | Source: Responsible Investor

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