Credit Suisse Shareholders Reject a Proposal for More Climate Disclosure
Credit Suisse Shareholders Reject a Proposal for More Climate Disclosure
(Bloomberg) -- Credit Suisse Group AG shareholders rejected an attempt to force the Swiss bank to disclose more on its efforts to tackle climate change and reduce financing for fossil fuels.
A proposal submitted by the Ethos Foundation, ShareAction and 11 institutional shareholders to have the bank’s constitution amended was defeated by 77.21% of those represented at Friday’s annual shareholder meeting.
Chairman Axel Lehmann said the bank recognizes the importance of its role in supporting the transition to a low-carbon and climate resilient global economy but that adding such an item to its “articles of association” wasn’t necessary.
Credit Suisse said that it already provides transparent disclosure of its efforts to combat climate change in its annual sustainability report. The bank did decide to submit a proposal for next year’s shareholder meeting that would put to vote whether the bank should disclose more.
The Ethos Foundation had contended that Credit Suisse is Europe’s fourth-largest financer of the fossil-fuel industry, with some $82 billion arranged since the Paris Agreement was signed.
The bank added that reporting of non-financial matters such as environmental issues will become mandatory from 2024 due to a change in Swiss reporting laws.
One shareholder alleged that the bank had one of the worst oil and gas policies among European banks and requested that the bank consider excluding financing fracking, oil sands, and deep water drilling.
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