The Netherlands tops ‘Hall of fame’ in ‘Don’t Bank on the Bomb’ ranking

The 2018 editon of the ‘Don’t Bank on the Bomb’ is now available. This report, produced by PAX a member of the Nobel Peace Prize winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear weapons (ICAN) is the only report detailing the global investments by financial institutions in companies producing nuclear weapons. The Netherlands has the largest number (11) of financial institutions in the ‘Hall of fame’

$525 Billion invested

329 investors made $525 Billion available to nuclear weapon producing companies between January 2014 and October 2017. They assisted with share and bond issuances, owned or managed shares and bonds or outstanding loans or made credit facilities. This is a decrease in the number of investors, but an $81 billion increase in the total amount invested. Find out who invests.

Most investors are from the US, and US$110 billion came from just 3 US financial institutions: Blackrock, Vanguard and Capital Group, all from the United States.

ICAN executive director Beatrice Fihn: “If you have been wondering who benefits from Donald Trump’s threats of nuclear war, this report has that answer. These are the companies that stand to profit from indiscriminate mass murder of civilians. We grow less safe while they cash in on chaos by banking on Armageddon.”

Positive examples

More and more financial institutions have policies in place to not invest in nuclear weapon producers. Those with the most comprehensive policies are listed in the Hall of Fame, while others with policies needing improvement can be found in the Runners-up.

In addition, Dutch pension fund ABP, the 5th largest pension fund in the world, announced in January 2018 that it will divest from all nuclear weapon producers. Norway’s Government Pension Fund, the second largest fund in the world, recently also announced the exclusion of more nuclear weapon producers.

Since the adoption of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, 30 financial institutions have ceased investing in nuclear weapon producers.

There is a clear parallel with international developments regarding nuclear weapons. The small group of countries that have nuclear weapons are modernising and even expanding their arsenals. President Trump announced a new US nuclear policy earlier this year that lowers the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, and president Putin announced only last week that Russia has tested new nuclear ballistic missiles.

At the same time, a large majority of countries around the world are calling for an end to this new nuclear arms race. Author of the report Susi Snyder: “The Nuclear Ban Treaty has sparked momentum towards divestment, shown by 10% fewer investors in nuclear weapon producers, and an increase in financial institutions comprehensively prohibiting any investment. Investments are not neutral, these companies should be congratulated for standing on the side of humanity.”

Download the full report (pdf)

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