Voting on genocide-free investing at JPMorgan Chase on May 17, 2011

Ad in WSJ

Tell JPMorgan Chase to support genocide-free investing

  • Click here to sign the petition telling Jamie Dimon, the head of JPMorgan Chase, that you want the company to adopt a genocide-free investing policy and stop investing in PetroChina and other companies supporting genocide.  Are you a JPMorgan customer? Do you have a Chase credit card or bank account?  If not, you are still a potential customer.  You can help influence JPMorgan Chase on this important issue. 

Ad in The Wall Street Journal - May 11, 2011

  • IAG ran an ad in The Wall Street Journal in advance of the voting on genocide-free investing, proposal 10 on the ballot at JPMorgan Chase's annual meeting. 
  • Are your investments tied to genocide? Many financial institutions invest in PetroChina, a company which, through its parent, CNPC, provides Sudan's government with revenue that has been helping fund the Darfur genocide for years. The conflict has claimed 300,000 lives and left millions homeless. With a billion-dollar stake in PetroChina as of January 2011, JPMorgan Chase is one of its largest investors. On May 17, JPMorgan Chase shareholders have the opportunity to vote for genocide-free investing. How would you vote?
  • Click here or on the image on the left to see the full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal from May 11.
  • IAG is very grateful for the support and generosity of the donor who made this ad possible.

Genocide-free investing proposal on the JPMorgan proxy ballot

  • Click here for IAG's press release on the ruling by the SEC and the upcoming vote at JPMorgan Chase.
  • JPMorgan Chase sought to squash the vote, but the SEC ruled in favor of IAG,paving the way for voting on the genocide-free investing proposal at JPMorgan Chase's annual meeting, May 17, 2011, in Columbus, Ohio.
  • Click here to read the SEC ruling, JPMorgan's filing and IAG's defense.
  • Click here to read the proxy materials and the ballot at the SEC.
  • The shareholder resolution states:
    "Shareholders request that the Board institute transparent procedures to prevent holding investments in companies that, in management's judgment, substantially contribute to genocide or crimes against humanity, the most egregious violations of human rights. Management should encourage JPMorgan funds with separate boards to institute similar procedures."
  • Press coverage from Institutional Investor: JPMorgan shareholders will see human rights proxy ballot
    "The proposal grew out of the ongoing debate over investments tied to Sudan, whose president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, faces International Criminal Court charges of genocide. Any investment link to his government, particularly through the nation’s oil industry, makes groups like Investors Against Genocide uneasy; a former Sudanese finance minister confirmed that 70 percent of oil revenue funds the nation’s military, which has been accused of permitting and committing atrocities. JPMorgan is a large holder of PetroChina (with holdings worth about $1.3 billion, according to the shareholder proposal), which is the majority-owned subsidiary of China National Petroleum Company, a major player in Sudan’s oil industry.

    A JPMorgan spokesperson says that the firm’s official stance on the matter is that it already factors human rights issues into its decision-making: “While we share the shareholder's concern about human rights generally and about genocide in particular, we believe the firm’s existing policies and procedures appropriately address these issues."
  • Press coverage from Social Funds: SEC allows proposal for genocide-free investing on JPMorgan proxy ballot
  • Press coverage from Ignites: Anti-genocide activists OK’d to target fund parents
  • See details below on JPMorgan Chase's large holdings of PetroChina.

JP Morgan Chase's holdings

  • As of January 12, 2010, JP Morgan Chase held 1,070,760,070 H share equivalents, worth approximately $1.3 billion.  
  • Click here for the January 13, 2010, filing on the Hong Kong Exchange.
  • As of August 30, 2007, JP Morgan Chase held 1,066,570,621 H share equivalents, worth approximately $1.5 billion.
  • Click here for the August 31, 2007, filing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.