Top 15 Shareholders
– Total, Ophir Energy and SOCO International –
One Corporate Responsibility
What is a shareholder?
A shareholder (or stockholder) is an individual or company (including a corporation) that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a joint stock company. Both private and public traded companies have shareholders. Companies listed at the stock market are expected to strive to enhance shareholder value.
Shareholders are granted special privileges depending on the class of stock, including the right to vote on matters such as elections to the board of directors, the right to share in distributions of the company’s income, the right to purchase new shares issued by the company, and the right to a company’s assets during a liquidation of the company… Even though the board of directors runs the company, the shareholder has some impact on the company’s policy, as the shareholders elect the board of directors.[1]
Who are they?
1 – SOCO International
|
SOCO’s International Top 10 most important investors |
|
| Investors | Country |
| Bank of America | United States |
| BlackRock | United States |
| JP Morgan Chase | United States |
| Asset Value Investors | United Kingdom |
| Aviva | United Kingdom |
| Legal & General | United Kingdom |
| Standard Life | United Kingdom |
| Government Pension Fund – Global | Norway |
| Fideuram Investimenti, onderdeel van Intesa SanPaolo | Italië |
| Canada Life, part of Power Corporation of Canada | Canada |
* Source: Thomson ONE Banker, visited in July 2012; Bloomberg Database, visited in July 2012.
2 – Ophir Energy
|
Ophir’s Energy Top 10 most important investors |
|
| Investors | Country |
| Capital Group | United States |
| Fidelity | United States |
| JP Morgan Chase | United States |
| Och-Ziff Capital Management Group | United States |
| Oriel Securities | United Kingdom |
| Credit Suisse | Switserland |
| Mvelaphanda Group | South Africa |
| Kulczyk Investments | Luxemburg |
| Mittal Investments, onderdeel van ArcelorMittal | Luxemburg |
| Royal Bank of Canada | Canada |
* Source: Thomson ONE Banker, visited in July 2012; Bloomberg Database, visited in July 2012.
3 – Total
| Total’s Top 15 most important investors | |
| Investors | Country |
| Bank of America | United States |
| BlackRock | United States |
| Morgan Stanley | United States |
| Prudential Financial | United States |
| Barclays | United Kingdom |
| HSBC | United Kingdom |
| Credit Suisse | Switzerland |
| UBS | Switzerland |
| Government Pension Fund – Global | Norway |
| BNP Paribas | France |
| Groupe BPCE | France |
| Société Générale | France |
| Royal Bank of Canada | Canada |
| Frère-Bourgeois | Belgium |
| Groupe Bruxelles Lambert | Belgium |
* Source: Thomson ONE Banker, visited in July 2012; Bloomberg Database, visited in July 2012.
What is corporate responsibility ?
“Corporate social responsibility (CSR, also called corporate conscience, corporate citizenship, social performance, or sustainable responsible business/ Responsible Business)is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model.” Source Wikipedia
The corporate responsibility to respect human rights means that companies must act with due diligence to avoid infringing on the rights of others. In addition to complying with national laws, the corporate responsibility to respect human rights is the baseline expectation for all companies in all situations. Companies may take on additional responsibilities voluntarily, and in some situations, such as when they perform certain public functions, more may be required of them.
The responsibility to respect is a core principle of the UN Global Compact :
- Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and
- Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.
- Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;
- Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and
- Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.
- Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.
* additional principles Labour
It is also recognized by virtually every voluntary initiative and features in suchsoft law instruments as the ILO Tripartite Declaration and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.[2]
What to do?
“Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights.”
Business must ensure that its operations are consistent with the legal principles applicable in the country of operation. If national law falls short of international standards, companies should strive to meet international standards and not infringe on human rights. In the rare situation that national law directly conflicts with international standards, companies are not expected to violate national laws. Instead, there may be other ways to support the spirit of international human rights standards.
Importantly, the corporate responsibility to respect exists independently of States’ human rights duties. Among other things, this means that businesses have a responsibility to respect human rights whether they are operating in an area of weak governance or in a more stable context. In areas where there is weak governance, the risks of infringing human rights may be greater because of the context.[3]
Table Source: Translated and adapted from Profundo’s Study: “Betrokkenheid van Nederlandse financiële instellingen bij oliebedrijven in het Virunga nationaal park”
READ FULLL REPORT: DUTCH – Nederlandse financiele instellingen en oliebedrijven in DRC _1-1
SAVE VIRUNGA 