Profundo - Weapons

Home

Products from the military industry cause victims in weaponed conflicts every day. Some weapons, such as landmines and clusterboms, still cause accidents and victims years after the conflict. The deceased and injured in these cases are predominantly innocent citizens, among which many of them are children. Controversial weapons, like chemical and biological weapons or clustermunition have economical and social consequences on the longer term. Explosive leftovers or other material can cause dangers for citizens on a large scale; agricultural areas and infrastructure become useless, and the cleaning costs a lot of money or even human lifes.

Profundo researches the financing of the military industry by banks and institutional investors. Profundo also researches the long term economic effects of landmines and clustermunition in conflictzones.

Date	Projects
9 June 2007 Banks, Oppressive regimes, Weapons	Financing of military companies by Dutch financial institutions Study on the involvement of Dutch financial institutions in the financing of ten major military companies from Europe and the United States, which are involved in supplying military equipment to countries in which human right violations take place on a large scale and countries which are involved in an armed conflict (internal or external). Client: Oxfam Novib
10 June 2007 Asset managers, Banks, Copper, Gold, Human rights, Oil & gas, Weapons	Financing of some controversial companies by Dutch banks Quick scan on the financing of some controversial companies, weapons producers and companies seriously polluting the environment, by Dutch banks. Client: Zembla
18 March 2007 Copper, Gold, Human rights, Pension funds, Pulp & paper, Soy, Weapons	Controversial investments by Dutch pension funds Study into the investments by Dutch pension funds in military companies producing cluster munition and landmines, companies which severely damage the environment and in companies sourcing products which are produced with the help of child labour. Client: Zembla Document(s): Responsible Investor: How a TV documentary on cluster bombs became an ESG benchmark, 17 January 2008
5 June 2006 Banks, Weapons	Belgian banks as shareholders of 17 producers of cluster bombs Research on the involvement of Belgian banks as shareholders in the international weapons industry (specifically producers of cluster munitions) Client: Netwerk Vlaanderen Document(s): Report Netwerk Vlaanderen: Explosive Portfolios - Bank Groups and Cluster Munitions Press release: Nieuwe Belgische wet is wereldprimeur, 2 March 2007
16 March 2006 Banks, Weapons	Belgian banks as shareholders of six producers of cluster and phosphorus bombs Research on the involvement of Belgian banks in the financing of producers of controversial weapons. Client: Netwerk Vlaanderen Document(s): Press release Netwerk Vlaanderen: KBC throws eleven cluster bomb producers out of it’s portfolio, 2 May 2006
10 June 2007 Asset managers, Oppressive regimes, Tobacco, Weapons	Investments in controversial companies by Dutch charities Quick scan into the investments by Dutch charities in controversial companies, which are involved in human rights violations or serious forms of environmental pollution or which are producing controversial weapons or tobacco. Client: Zembla
13 November 2007 Human rights, Weapons	The impacts of cluster munition and landmines on children Study on the long term consequences of the use and presence of landmines and cluster munitions on the lives, well-being and development potential of children. Client: UNICEF Netherlands Document(s): Spits: Unicef: Ruim miljard kinderen bloot aan geweld, 13 November 2007
19 December 2007 Banks, Climate change, Coal, Gold, Human rights, Hydropower, Oil & gas, Oppressive regimes, Palm oil, Pulp & paper, Shrimps, Soy, Timber, Weapons, Whitefish	Mind the Gap - Benchmarking credit policies of international banks A benchmark of the credit policies of the 45 largest international banks in the world, with regard to 7 sensitive sectors - agriculture, weapons, forestry, fishery, oil & gas, mining and dams - and 7 crucial issues - biodiversity, climate change, toxics, labour, human rights, rights of indigenous people, and taxes. The policies were compared with existing international regulations and standards: international agreements and conventions, guidelines framed in multi-stakeholder initiatives, etcetera. Client: BankTrack Document(s): The Banker: Article on the benchmark of the credit policies of the 45 largest international banks in the world, 1 February 2008 Press release BankTrack: Mind the Gap: BankTrack rates credit policies of 45 banks, 19 December 2007 Report BankTrack: Mind the Gap - Benchmarking credit policies of international banks, December 2007 Executive summary report BankTrack: Mind the Gap - Benchmarking credit policies of international banks, December 2007 Metro France: Le secteur bancaire en retard sur les critères environnementaux, 28 December 2007
1 March 2004 Banks, Weapons	Belgian banks and the global weapons industry - follow-up Study on the involvement of Belgian banks in the global weapons industry; a.o. financing of Forges de Zeebrugge and Israel Military Industries. Client: Netwerk Vlaanderen
1 October 2003 Asset managers, Banks, Weapons	Belgian banks and the global weapons industry Research on the financial involvement of Belgian bank groups in the global weapons industry. Client: Netwerk Vlaanderen
9 October 2007 Asset managers, Banks, Weapons	The financing of three producers of uranium weapons Study on the involvement of international financial institutions in the financing of three American producers of depleted uranium weapons. Client: Netwerk Vlaanderen Document(s): Netwerk Vlaanderen: Too Risky for Business? Bank of New York investeert in uraniumwapens, 5 November 2007 Press release Netwerk Vlaanderen: International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons & Netwerk Vlaanderen, 6 November 2007 Report Urgewald: Deutsche Bank: Ein fragwürdiges Markenzeichen, May 2008
28 February 2007 Banks, Weapons	The financing of five cluster munitions producers Research into the financing of five cluster munitions producers. Client: Netwerk Vlaanderen Document(s): Report Netwerk Vlaanderen: Explosive Investments - Financial Institutions and Cluster Munitions, February 2007 Press release Netwerk Vlaanderen: 68 Banks Fuelling Cluster Munition Producers with Billions of Dollars, 28 February 2007 Press release Netwerk Vlaanderen: AXA disinvests (partly) from landmines and cluster munitions, 18 July 2007
12 April 2004 Asset managers, Banks, Weapons	Cluster Bombs, Landmines, Nuclear Weapons and Depleted Uranium Weapons A study on the financial links between Belgian banks and the producers of controversial weapon systems. Client: Netwerk Vlaanderen Document(s): Report Netwerk Vlaanderen: Cluster Bombs, Landmines, Nuclear Weapons and Depleted Uranium Weapons - A report on the financial links between banks and the producers of controversial weapon systems, April 2004 Press release Netwerk Vlaanderen: ING disinvests (partly) from controversial weapons, 24 March 2005
5 June 2008 Asset managers, Banks, Human rights, Oppressive regimes, Weapons	The financing of companies violating human rights Research into the financing of companies involved in human rights violations by a number of banks active in Belgium. Client: Netwerk Vlaanderen Document(s): Press release Netwerk Vlaanderen: Risk of harmful investments is too high for Belgian customers, 4 June 2008
20 March 2008 Asset managers, Banks, Copper, Gold, Hydropower, Oil & gas, Pension funds, Weapons	Trends in the financing of four sensitive sectors Strategic analysis of the financing trends in four sensitive sectors: mining, dams, oil and gas and the weapons industry. Client: BankTrack Document(s): The Times: Mind the Gap finds banks wanting, January 2008
1 April 2005 Banks, Weapons	Banks and the international weapons industry Study of the financial ties between banks and weapons producers Client: Netwerk Vlaanderen Document(s): Banks disarm(ed): An overview of the results of the campaign 'My money. Clear consience?' Press release Netwerk Vlaanderen: European Parliament calls for a ban on investments in controversial arms, August 26 2005
28 October 2009 Asset managers, Banks, Pension funds, Weapons	Worldwide investments in cluster munitions Research on investments in producers of cluster munitions by financial institutions worldwide. Client: IKV Pax Christi, Netwerk Vlaanderen Document(s): Report IKV Pax Christi & Netwerk Vlaanderen: Worldwide investments in cluster munitions - a shared responsibility, October 2009. Press release IKV Pax Christi & Netwerk Vlaanderen: Top financial institutions still invest US$20 billion in cluster bombs Banks and pension funds should disinvest from banned weapon, 29 October 2009.