Co-operative Bank turns down £100 million of unethical business
In a sign of the times, the Co-operative Bank has today confirmed that last year it turned down the opportunity to invest in 20 financial arrangements which breached the company's ethical guidelines. The company has a number of these ethical guidelines in relation to human rights, the arms trade and the environment. It is unclear exactly what opportunities were turned down but the very fact they were worth in the region of £100 million reflects the serious nature of the business today.
The banking industry has for many years been at the centre of the ethical investment argument because of its direct involvement in financing ventures around the world. The vast majority of banking companies in the UK now have firm rules and regulations in place regarding ethical investment although whether they would all turn down up to £100 million of new unethical investments is debatable!
The Cooperative Bank is beginning to make a name for itself in the ethical, renewable and green industries having put aside hundreds of millions of pounds for these new and growing sectors. It is this foresight and ability to spot new investment markets which could pay handsome dividends in the not-too-distant future.
Share this..
Related stories
So Mr Brown, Will The Taxpayer Lose Money On Northern Rock?
Those close to the Northern Rock situation have been very vocal over the last couple of weeks with regards to a statement made by Gordon Brown on the 18th February, soon after the troubled Northern Rock bank was nationalised. In his press conference in the aftermath of the move he insisted that the move was not a bad one and could see tax payer actually make a profit as and when the bank was sold...
Read MoreProtect your money, urges Fidelity International
Nervous savers who are worrying about the safety of their money after the Northern Rock crisis should think about spreading their money across different accounts, Fidelity International has suggested.Currently, government legislation guarantees that in the event of the collapse of a bank, 100 per cent of savings of up to £2,000 but only 90 per cent of those worth £31,000 will be refunded - leavi...
Read MoreFSA denies pushing Nationwide to bail out struggling societies
It seems as though in many ways the Financial Service Authority (FSA) cannot win with criticism of its role in the bail out of the Derbyshire and Cheshire building societies starting to grow. Critics claim that the FSA was active in putting together the deal with some suggesting that pressure was placed upon the Nationwide (the largest building society in the sector) to structure some form of bai...
Read MoreWill the UK government publish banking stress tests?
As the financial markets get ready for the European Union to issue a raft of banking stress tests later this month there is speculation as to whether the UK government could be a little more transparent in this particular area in the future. However, there are certainly pros and cons towards publishing banking stress tests and there are many arguments on going within the marketplace. On the ups...
Read MoreShanks Group up for sale
As we covered yesterday, waste management company Shanks Group is currently embroiled in a battle with Carlyle Group which has launched a £1.35 a share offer for the company. The offer values the company at £536 million and while initially Shanks Group had rejected the approach the company has said it is willing to consider doing business at £1.50 a share. So what will happen next? In simple...
Read More