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 [...]

Credit Suisse has become the first bank to force its staff to make compulsory charitable donations, with several hundred US managing directors directed to give 2.5 per cent of their 2010 bonuses to good causes. The Swiss bank, which estimated the scheme would raise up to $30m for charity, said it would only apply in [...]

The Justice Department has expanded its criminal investigation into foreign banks that sell offshore private banking services to include Credit Suisse and HSBC, according to people briefed on the matter. The investigation into the two European banks is an outgrowth of an inquiry by federal prosecutors and regulators into UBS, the Swiss bank giant, [...]

A fresh writedown for UBS. An ethical writedown, that is. The below chart compiled by Covalance – an ethical research outfit. As you’ll notice, UBS – generally a poorly behaved child – has been very naughty since mid-April. (…) HSBC, meanwhile, is good as gold. Last year major positive issues regarding the Banking industry have [...]

Interactions of banks with governments are increasingly criticized in terms of ethics; meanwhile, environmental initiatives and philanthropic donations are the industry’s main positive news cows, states a report published today by Geneva-based ethical reputation research firm Covalence – Covalence Banking Industry Report 2008. (…) The historical EthicalQuote ranking calculated since 2002 sees Banks dropping from [...]

Police detained 19 people Tuesday for allegedly taking part in a scheme to help large Brazilian companies evade taxes by laundering money through Swiss banks UBS AG and Credit Suisse Group and the U.S.-based American International Group Inc. The raids at 44 sites in four states were part of a clampdown by Brazilian authorities on [...]

The genocide in Darfur relies mainly on the income of the Sudanese government from the oil industry. Involved are also Swiss financial institutions such as UBS or Credit Suisse which in total hold around 6 billion US dollars worth of investments in the controversial oil companies in Sudan. UBS plans, furthermore, to underwrite PetroChina’s IPO [...]

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 [...]

Banks show the second best EthicalQuote reputation score from June 2006 to June 2007 compared to nine other industries, states a report released on 29 June 2007 by Geneva-based ethical reputation research firm Covalence, Covalence Banking Industry Report 2007. Over last year the Banking Industry has witnessed a favorable evolution in the areas of Eco-Innovativeness [...]

Within the industry (25 among the largest banks in market capitalization), HSBC is leading the way ahead of ABN AMRO and Bank of America, while US Bancorp and Banco Bilbao occupy the last positions. While global warming offers banks opportunities (carbon emissions reduction plans, investments in renewable energy), it also brings increased scrutiny on their [...]