“Farmers Threaten ANZ With Protest, Demand Help”, 4 August 2014

Farmers from Kompong Speu province handed ANZ Royal Bank a petition…insisting it still had a responsibility to help mend the damage done by a sugar plantation in has helped finance, even though the bank and plantation recently parted ways. They threatened to start protesting in front of the bank’s Phnom Penh headquarters if it did not agree to help them…In their letter to ANZ Royal…the villagers [said]…“While communities suffer, ANZ gained profit from the interest charged on the principal loaned to [Phnom Penh Sugar]…ANZ Royal CEO Grant Knuckey, who attended…[the] meeting with the Kompong Speu representatives, declined to comment on the meeting or the letter…Stephen Ries, spokesman for ANZ, the majority owner of ANZ Royal...said…“While we had put in place a detailed action plan to help [Phnom Penh Sugar] improve its performance in addressing its social and environmental obligations, it ultimately decided to pay out its loan and is no longer a customer of ANZ”…