UBS AG (UBSN) is in the process of rooting out “negative elements” of its corporate culture after Switzerland’s largest bank was fined $1.5 billion by regulators for trying to rig global interest rates, said Andrea Orcel, chief executive officer of the investment bank. “We all got probably too arrogant, too self-convinced the things were correct [...]

Public revolt in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and elsewhere makes it clear that many yearn for rights and liberties. But states are not the only institutions obligated to respect human rights. Companies also have human rights responsibilities and can be complicit in violating human rights. For example, during the first days of protests in Cairo, telecom [...]

Global Witness’ new report Undue Diligence names some of the major banks who have done business with corrupt regimes. By accepting these customers, banks are assisting those who are using state assets to enrich themselves or brutalise their own people. This corruption denies the world’s poorest people the chance to lift themselves out of poverty [...]

Samir Bhatia, the managing director of Barclays India, is sitting on the floor of a community building in Marol, a slum district of Bombay. In front of him, some women are explaining how their savings and loans scheme works. It is a moment in which worlds collide. Each of the 20 members of the Lakshmi [...]

Si l’autorité de régulation de la DFSA veut donner l’image d’une organisation sévère, le recyclage d’argent douteux dans des transactions immobilières à Dubai est en réalité largement répandu. Deux systèmes de régulation financière se côtoient à Dubai. Le premier concerne les banques exerçant une activité normale sur le territoire des Emirats arabes unis, comme la [...]

Ministers mounted a secret campaign to persuade huge British firms to adopt “an ethical approach” to their investments in Zimbabwe, amid concerns that some could be “silently complicit” in Robert Mugabe’s reign of terror, documents obtained by The Independent on Sunday have revealed.A clutch of internal Foreign Office (FCO) emails lay bare the Government’s deepening [...]

The FairPensions’ Fund Manager Transparency and Engagement Survey reveals that 75% of fund managers analysed do not publicly disclose any policies relating to environmental and social issues. This is despite the fact that many of the companies analysed have transparent corporateresponsibility policies in place. The survey covered the top twenty fund managers in the UK, [...]

In 2006 and 2007, UNI Finance conducted a survey on finance companies’ commitments to Principle 3 of the UN Global Compact, “Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining”. 35 major finance companies were asked to elaborate on their commitments to Principle 3. In a second [...]

Whether it’s tracing the provenance of the shirt on our backs or asking about air miles required to deliver our coffee, UK consumers are increasingly demanding environmental and ethical awareness from the companies they use. And the same goes for banks and their products. UK banks are making a concerted effort to prove they have [...]

According to the latest Banking Industry report from research group Covalence, competition for eco-minded customers has helped improve how banks’ services affect the environment. The study looked at the EthicalQuote Reputation Index for nine industries from June 2006 to June 2007 and found that the banking sector was ranked second highest in its overall reputation, [...]