17 Jan 2017

…HSBC has no interest in financing customers involved in: illegal operations; land clearance by burning; the conversion of high conservation value areas; harmful or exploitative child labour or forced labour; the violation of the rights of local communities, such as the principle of free prior and informed consent; and operations where there is significant social conflict…

…We are not aware of any current instances where customers are alleged to be operating outside our policy and where we have not taken, or are not taking, appropriate action

…We are not complacent and continue to monitor these sectors closely, and will publish more information later this year. We do not consider closing a relationship a success, as we lose influence to promote higher standards, although we have no doubt that our policies benefit from having a bar, below which relationships will be ended…