2018

On 7 October 2014 the Australian National Contact Point (AusNCP) received a Specific Instance complaint from Equitable Cambodia (EC) and Inclusive Development International (IDI) on behalf of 681 families against Australian and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ Group) and its group entity ANZ Royal Bank (Cambodia) Limited (ANZ Royal) (together, ANZ).

...The Specific Instance alleged non-observance by ANZ of certain parts of the General Policies Chapter and Human Rights Chapter of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (OECD Guidelines) in relation to ANZ’s involvement with the developer of a sugar plantation and refinery project in Cambodia. The project is alleged to have forcibly displaced the families and dispossessed them of their land and productive resources...

The AusNCP considers that in this case it is difficult to reconcile ANZ’s decision totake on PPS as a client with its own internal policies and procedures—which appear to accord with the OECD Guidelines—as the potential risks associated with this decision would likely have been readily apparent...