British Bank Refuses to do
Busines With GE Companies

British bank will not do business with GM firms

Europe Intelligence Wire via NewsEdge Corporation :
Source: Manchester Evening News, May 01, 2002

MANCHESTER'S Co-operative Bank is celebrating 10 years of ethics by
toughening its stance on GM foods and animals.

The policy determines who the bank will and will not do business with,
and now includes a section on genetic modification.

Now, following consultation with more than two million customers, the
bank says it will not do business with biotech companies involved in
uncontrolled release of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) into the
environment, terminator technologies or cloning, in particular of
animals for non-medical purposes. In a move designed to reflect the more
positive aspects of the Bank's ethical stance, the updated policy also
states what the Bank will seek to support.

This includes: companies which take a responsible position with regard
to labour rights in their own operations and through their supply chains
in developing countries; businesses involved in recycling and
sustainable waste management; and organisations working to promote
renewable energy and energy efficiency; charities and the broad range of
organisations involved in the Social Enterprise Sector.

The changes were made following a full programme of consultation with
customers over the past 18 months. The Bank held discussion groups with
selected customers, invited comments and discussion on specific subjects
via its website and then asked all account holders to complete a
detailed questionnaire which could be returned via post, e-mail or the
Bank's branch network.

The Bank's account holders again gave the ethical stance a massive
thumbs up. The results of the detailed questionnaire show 97 per cent of
personal and business customers back the policy, up six percentage
points since the last poll in 1998. Director of corporate affairs, Simon
Williams said: "For the past ten years our policy has acted as one of
the UK's main ethical barometers. Indeed, issues included in our
original policy have since been outlawed.

"We never said that our ethical policy was set in stone. It is important
that it echoes developments in society at large. We are committed to
regularly consulting our customers on the details of our ethical stance
" It is notoriously difficult to get people to agree on any one subject
so to get 97 per cent support represents an extraordinary degree of
customer endorsement.

"Our stance on genetic modification reflects our customers' genuine
concerns. They are not fundamentally opposed to it but they worry about
the potential impacts that could arise from the application of GM
technology."

-EMMA CORLETT