- Date filed
- 16 January 2024
- Keywords
- Countries of harm
- Current status
-
Filed
- Sector
- NCP
Allegations
On 16 January 2024, three civil society organisations, BankTrack, the Coalition for Immigrant Freedom, and Worth Rises, filed complaints against Swiss based-banks UBS and Swiss National Bank and US-based banks Barclays and HSBC to the Swiss and UK NCPs, respectively. The complaints focus on the banks’ direct linkages to human rights harms taking place in US private prisons operated by CoreCivic and GEO Group, in which the banks invest. The complainants allege that the banks have not carried out adequate human rights due diligence with respect to their investments and that they have not sought ways to prevent or mitigate adverse impacts to which they are directly linked. The complainants are seeking increased disclosure and transparency as well as for due diligence to be conducted by the banks, including for the banks to exercise their leverage to mitigate impacts and potentially divest if impacts are not satisfactorily addressed.
The complaint refers to 2021 guidance issued by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR), which confirmed banks’ responsibilities regarding the impacts of companies in which they hold shares on behalf of clients. The UN OHCHR’s guidance was sought in relation to a previous NCP complaint filed by Society for Threatened Peoples against UBS Group.
The complaint is filed under both the 2011 and 2023 versions of the OECD Guidelines in relation to the banks’ operations both prior to and continuing after the update of the text in June 2023.
Relevant OECD Guidelines
More details
- Defendant
- Company in violation
- Other companies involved
- Complainants
- Affected people
- Other NCP's where the complaint was filed
Related complaints
- BankTrack et al., vs. HSBC, Swiss National Bank, UBS Group, and Barclays
- BankTrack et al., vs. UBS Group, Swiss National Bank, Barclays, and HSBC
- BankTrack et al., vs. Swiss National Bank, UBS Group, Barclays, and HSBC