Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility

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The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) is an association advocating for corporate social responsibility. [1] Its 300 member organizations comprise faith communities, asset managers, unions, pensions, NGOs and other investors. ICCR members engage hundreds of corporations annually in an effort to foster greater corporate accountability. ICCR's members file shareholder resolutions on issues such as climate change, human rights, corporate governance, financial practices, and other social and environmental concerns. The organization was founded in 1971.

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Members

ICCR members include faith communities, asset management companies, labor unions, pension funds, NGOs, and college and university endowment funds.

Corporate targets

In any given year, members of ICCR file roughly 300 shareholder resolutions at hundreds of American corporations across multiple industries.

ICCR also owns the EthVest database of shareholder resolutions. [2]

In the 1980s, ICCR was active in the campaign for disinvestment from South Africa in protest of Apartheid.

Issues of concern

Shareholder resolutions span a wide range of issues. In recent years, the most active issues have included climate change; human rights including topics such as human trafficking, food safety and sustainability, water sustainability, and the affordability of medicines; [3] corporate lobbying and corporate political contributions; corporate governance; financial practices and risk; [4] and gun control. [5] [6]

The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility co-ordinated organizations using shareholder activism to influence firearms manufacturers to improve the safety of their products. The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility supported shareholder resolutions asking American Outdoor Brands Corporation, the parent company of Smith & Wesson, and Sturm, Ruger & Co. to report to investors regarding the steps they are taking to reduce gun violence. Ruger opposed the resolution. BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager and Ruger's largest investor, and Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis, the two most important shareholder advisory firms in the United States, supported the resolution. At Ruger's annual meeting on May 9, 2018 a majority of shareholders voted in favor and Ruger said they would heed the resolution. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence called the vote a "first-of-its-kind victory." [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

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References

  1. ↑ https://www.iccr.org/investors-see-proposed-rollback-methane-regs-threat-long-term-viability-oil-gas-sector
  2. ↑ Institutional Shareowner, October 04, 2005 - ICCR Online Database Eases Access to Information on Shareowner Resolutions, by William Baue
  3. ↑ Loftus, Peter (2017-03-01). "Drug Companies Block Shareholder Votes on Price Transparency Proposals". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  4. ↑ Cowley, Stacy (2017-03-16). "Wells Fargo Leaders Reaped Lavish Pay Even as Account Scandal Unfolded". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  5. ↑ Childs, Mary (October 5, 2018). "How Nuns Won Duels With the Gun Makers". Barron's . Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  6. ↑ Whyte, Amy (August 20, 2018). "These Churches Buy Shares in Gun Companies. Their Goal: Confront Them". Institutional Investor . Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  7. ↑ Moyer, Liz (February 28, 2018). "Activist nuns see momentum building for their fight against gun makers after Florida school shooting". CNBC . Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  8. ↑ Loder, Asjylyn; Cameron, Doug (May 9, 2018). "Sturm, Ruger Shareholders Vote to Force Firm to Reveal More About Gun Violence Issues". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  9. ↑ Hsu, Tiffany (May 9, 2018). "Sturm Ruger Shareholders Adopt Measure Backed by Gun Safety Activists". The New York Times . Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  10. ↑ Schuppe, Jon (September 30, 2018). "How a Seattle nun led a shareholder revolt against gun makers". NBC News . Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  11. ↑ Mirchandani, Bhakti (February 19, 2019). "A Year After Parkland, How Churches Nationwide Are Using Big Investment Dollars To Drive Gun Safety". Forbes . Retrieved October 1, 2019.


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