Bank
of America, JP Morgan among 74 of 158 financial institutions that
invest in companies producing internationally banned weapons
Despite the international ban on
cluster bombs, more than 150 financial institutions have invested $28
billion in companies that produce them, according to a new report
released Thursday.
Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase,
and Wells Fargo are among the 158 banks, pension funds, and other
firms listed in the "Hall of Shame" compiled by the
Netherlands-based organization PAX, a member of the Cluster Munition
Coalition (CMC).
The report, titled Worldwide
Investments in Cluster Munitions: A Shared Responsibility, finds that
the leading investors come from 14 countries including the U.S., the
UK, and Canada. Of the top 10 overall investors, the U.S. is home to
eight. Japan and China round out the last two.
Both the UK and Canada—along
with France, Germany, and Switzerland, whose institutions are also
named on the list—have signed the 2008 Oslo treaty known as the
Convention on Cluster Munitions banning the use of the indiscriminate
bombs under international law.
The U.S., which hosts by far the
most companies on the list with 74, is not a signatory.
Cluster bombs, which can be
launched from the air or ground, operate by ejecting smaller
sub-munitions or "bomblets" that can saturate an area of
several football fields, according to CMC. They can remain volatile
long after a conflict ends.
Full
report:
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