KnowTheChain announced the names of the 125 companies with combined assets under management of over USD 6.6 trillion it will be benchmarking  in 2018 on their efforts to address forced labour in their supply chains. KnowTheChain will cover global companies across three sectors: Information Communication & Technology (ICT), Food & Beverage, and Apparel & Footwear. Companies include US retail giants Amazon and Walmart, the French luxury brands LVMH and Hermès, the Asian mega suppliers Li & Fung and Yue Yuen, and the Australian food retailers Woolworths and Wesfarmers/Coles.

KnowTheChain has also published its revised methodology for the ICT sector. The revised methodology includes feedback from stakeholders including previously benchmarked companies, the investor community, and civil society organizations. KnowTheChain intends to update the methodology after each benchmarking series to account for the evolving nature of the field. Changes to the 2018 methodology include the inclusion of forced labour allegations, a stronger focus on corporate action below the first tier of supply chains, and alignment of the worker voices and recruitment themes with leading practices in the field.

Further, KnowTheChain announced it will be joining forces with the Thomson Reuters Foundation to increase the number of companies to be benchmarked over the next three years. Through this partnership these benchmarking efforts will become the KnowTheChain – Stop Slavery Index.