Thompson announces list of companies urged to review business ties to Sudan
New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr
– Contact: Laura Rivera, (212) 669-2701, [email protected]
New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., as the custodian and investment advisor to the New York City pension funds, today announced the names of the companies in the United States and overseas being urged by the City to review their business ties to Sudan.
Over the last two weeks, Thompson sent letters to 24 companies requesting that each company review its business ties to Sudan, examine any potential financial and reputational risks, and report its findings to shareholders.
The companies that received letters were selected based in part on an analysis of the companies’ business activities in Sudan provided in a report by the Conflict Securities Advisory Group, a Washington, D.C.-based independent research organization that profiles publicly-traded companies that have business ties to Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Iraq and North Korea.
Thompson sent letters to:
Agfa-Gevaert N.V. of Belgium, in which the funds have 25,021 shares worth $877,658.
Alcatel of France, in which the funds have 315,983 shares worth $3.8 million.
BAE Systems PLC of the United Kingdom, in which the funds have 1,262,628 shares worth $6.4 million.
Bayer AG of Germany, in which the funds have 1,244,443 shares worth $71.3 million.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation of China, in which the funds have 2,209,591 shares worth $892,000.
Deutsche Bank AG of Germany, in which the funds have 537,996 shares worth $43.9 million.
Exel plc of the United Kingdom, in which the funds have 71,326 shares worth $1.2 million.
Finmeccanica SpA of Italy, in which the funds have 1,527,461 shares worth more than $1.5 million.
Intertek Group PLC of the United Kingdom, in which the funds have 40,217 shares worth $587,815.
Kia Motors Corporation of South Korea, in which the funds have 114,320 shares worth $1.5 million.
Lafarge S.A. of France, in which the funds have 1,685,365 worth $62.4 million.
NEC Corporation of Japan, in which the funds have 2,567,657 worth $15.9 million.
Novartis AG of Switzerland, in which the funds have 4,886,405 shares worth $228.4 million.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. of India, in which the funds have 21,570 shares worth $436,068.
Petrochina Company Ltd. of China, in which the funds have 1,432,000 shares worth $890,485.
Royal Dutch Shell of the Netherlands, in which the funds have 3,298,521 shares worth $197.4 million.
Schering AG of Germany, in which the funds have 326,234 shares worth $21.6 million.
Schlumberger Ltd. of Manhattan, NY, in which the funds have 358,755 shares worth $30.9 million.
Schneider Electric SA of France, in which 518,939 shares worth $40.6 million.
Siemens AG of Germany, in which the funds have 1,291,554 shares worth $102.3 million.
Sojitz Holdings Corporation of Japan, in which the funds have 49,802 shares worth $245,846.
Sulzer Ltd. of Switzerland, in which the funds have 940 shares worth $406,295.
Syngenta AG of Switzerland, in which the funds have 88,713 shares worth $9.2 million.
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson of Sweden, in which the funds have 16,440,031 shares worth $51.1 million.
“I write regarding an issue of great concern to the trustees of our funds – the potential risk to our investments in companies with business ties to Sudan, a country governed by a regime that has committed gross human rights violations against its own people, and that the U.S. State Department has designated as a ?state sponsor of terrorism’,” Thompson said.
As shareholders, he said, a company’s business dealings with Sudan “could expose the Company to negative publicity, public protests, and a loss of investor confidence, all of which could have a negative effect on shareholder value.”
“We are sending a clear message that City workers are concerned about investing their pension funds in companies that have ties to the Sudanese government, which violates the rights of its people and sponsors terrorism,” said Betsy Gotbaum, New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS) trustee and New York City Public Advocate. “Companies that do business with such a regime put their reputations, and by extension shareholder value, at risk.”
“As a fiduciary, I am concerned that some of the members’ retirement assets may be at risk because of a company’s operations in the Sudan,” said Lillian Roberts, NYCERS trustee and Executive Director, District Council 37, AFSCME, AFL-CIO. “The trustees have a responsibility to safeguard the members’ assets, and the companies have a responsibility to their shareholders and the public to both review their operations in the Sudan and issue a report on the risks of doing business in a country ruled by a despotic regime and known as a sponsor of terrorism.”
Previously, Thompson urged General Electric, Halliburton, Cooper Cameron and Aon to examine their ties to Iran because of its designation as a “state sponsor of terrorism.” In February, General Electric agreed to cease doing business in Iran. In March, the Halliburton Company agreed not to forge any new business ties with Iran and the Cooper Cameron Corporation took steps to sever its business ties with Iran. In April, Aon agreed to establish a committee to review the corporation’s operations in Iran, prompting the Comptroller to withdraw the shareholder resolutions he had submitted to the companies.
“We are mindful that in 2001, the then Acting United States SEC Chairman, Laura Unger, stated that ?(t)he fact that a foreign company is doing material business with a government or entity on OFAC’s (U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assents Control) sanctions list is, in the SEC’s staff’s view, substantially likely to be significant to a reasonable investor’s decision about whether to invest in that company’,” Thompson wrote. “As fiduciaries of the New York City pension funds, we are duty-bound to consider this assessment.”
The trustees for the five Pension Systems are:
New York City Fire Department Pension Fund: Mayor Michael Bloomberg; New York City Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta (Chair); New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark; Stephen Cassidy, President, James Slevin, Vice President, Robert Straub, Treasurer, and John Kelly, Brooklyn Representative and Chair, Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York; Peter Gorman, President and Captains’ Rep., Nicholas J. Visconti, Chiefs’ Rep., and Stephen J. Carbone, Lieutenants’ Rep., Uniformed Fire Officers Association; and, Joseph Gagliardi, Marine Engineers Association.
New York City Police Pension Fund: Mayor Michael Bloomberg; New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark; New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly (Chair); Patrick Lynch, Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association; Michael Palladino, Detectives Endowment Association; Edwin Mullins, Sergeants Benevolent Association; Anthony Garvey, Lieutenants Benevolent Association; and, John Driscoll, Captains Endowment Association.
New York City Employees’ Retirement System: New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark (Chair); New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum; Borough Presidents C. Virginia Fields (Manhattan), Helen Marshall (Queens), Marty Markowitz (Brooklyn), Adolfo Carrion (Bronx), and James Molinaro (Staten Island); Lillian Roberts, Executive Director, District Council 37, AFSCME; Roger Toussaint, President Transport Workers Union Local 100; and, Carroll (Carl) Haynes, President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 237.
New York City Teachers’ Retirement System: New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark (Chair); Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm, New York City Department of Education; and, Sandra March, Melvyn Aaronson and Mona Romain, all of the United Federation of Teachers.
New York City Board of Education Retirement System: Mayoral appointees Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, Alan Aviles, Phillip Berry, David Chang, Tino Hernandez, Augusta Souza Kappner, Richard Menschel and Marita Regan; Borough President appointees Jesse Mojica (Bronx), Martine G. Guerrier (Brooklyn), Michael Flowers (Queens), and Joan Correale (Staten Island); and employee members Thomas J. Malanga of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 891, and Milagros Rodriguez of District Council 37, Local 372.
A letter can be viewed at the Comptroller’s web site: www.comptroller.nyc.gov.