File:DivestmentReport.pdf

 report  by Jan Willem van Gelder, Petra Spaargaren, Tim Wright dated March 2012

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Subjects: Nuclear Weapons
Source: Unknown

Financial research was provided by Dutch firm Profundo. The publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, provided that ICAN and Profundo are acknowledged as the source.

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Don’t Bank on the Bomb

The Global Financing of Nuclear Weapons Producers

Contributors

Setsuko Thurlow, Tilman Ruff, John Burroughs, Ray Acheson, Brendan Thomas-Noone, Kelle Louallier, Simon O’Connor, Alyn Ware, Aaron Tovish, Jonathan Frerichs, Helen Caldicott, Roos Boer, Nicola Boyle, Keerththana Jeyakandan, Pia A. Gaarder, Magnus Løvold, Lily Gardener, Jennifer Gerrand, Dianne Street, Jianwen Hu

Funders

• Dara Foundation, Australia
• ICAN Norge, Norway
• Nei til Atomvåpen, Norway
• Norske Leger mot Atomvåpen, Norway
• Acronym Institute, United Kingdom

Synopsis

A groundbreaking report by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) identifies more than 300 banks, pension funds, insurance companies and asset managers in 30 countries with substantial investments in nuclear arms producers. The 180-page study, "Don’t Bank on the Bomb: The Global Financing of Nuclear Weapons Producers", provides details of financial transactions with 20 companies that are heavily involved in the manufacture, maintenance and modernization of US, British, French and Indian nuclear forces.

Nuclear-armed nations spend in excess of US$100 billion each year maintaining and modernizing their nuclear forces, according to the report. Much of this work is carried out by corporations such as BAE Systems and Babcock International in the United Kingdom, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman in the United States, Thales and Safran in France, and Larsen & Toubro in India. Financial institutions invest in these companies by providing loans and purchasing shares and bonds.

Of the 322 financial institutions identified in the report, roughly half are based in the United States and a third in Europe. Asian, Australian and Middle Eastern institutions are also listed. The institutions most heavily involved in financing nuclear arms makers include Bank of America, BlackRock and JP Morgan Chase in the United States; BNP Paribas in France; Allianz and Deutsche Bank in Germany; Mitsubishi UJF Financial in Japan; BBVA and Banco Santander in Spain; Credit Suisse and UBS in Switzerland; and Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland in Britain.

The report emphasizes the humanitarian, legal and environmental arguments for divestment, noting the unique destructive potential of nuclear weapons. Setsuko Thurlow, a survivor of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, writes in the report: “Anyone with a bank account or pension fund has the power to choose to invest his or her money ethically – in a way that does not contribute to this earth-endangering enterprise.” In addition to stating the ethical case for divestment, the report also warns of the reputational risks associated with financing nuclear arms, and highlights the positive role that financial institutions could play in the quest for a world free from such weapons.