ZURICH (Thomson Financial) - Groups representing indigenous peoples in Guyana, Cambodia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea have urged Swiss bank Credit Suisse to pay them 10 mln usd (7 mln eur) in compensation because of its links with a Malaysian timber company.
The company, Samling, retained Credit Suisse as an adviser during its stock market flotation in February, along with HSBC (nyse: HBC - news - people ) and Australian bank Macquarie.
The indigenous peoples claim that Samling's operations have damaged their communities by cutting down forests and in some cases, polluting sources of drinking water.
'We're slowly dying,' a representative of the Penan people from Malaysia told journalists at a press conference here.
'We are asking that Credit Suisse give back the profits generated by the stock exchange debut, 10 mln usd, to the indigenous peoples harmed by Samling,' said Lukas Straumann of the Swiss environmental group, the Bruno Manser Fund.
Samling operates on 3.9 mln hectares across Malaysia's Sarawak peninsula and Guyana in Latin America alone.
The Fund and another Swiss group, the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV), said they had met with Credit Suisse on Feb 23, but the talks proved fruitless.
They accuse the bank of not adhering to its own charter on sustainable development when agreeing to work with Samling.
They now plan to attend the Credit Suisse's annual general meeting on Friday. along woth invited representatives from the indigenous peoples.
A bank spokesman said a thorough investigation had shown that Samling operated in accordance with all relevant laws.
Credit Suisse will also organise a meeting between the indigenous peoples and Samling itself, he added.
The company, Samling, retained Credit Suisse as an adviser during its stock market flotation in February, along with HSBC (nyse: HBC - news - people ) and Australian bank Macquarie.
The indigenous peoples claim that Samling's operations have damaged their communities by cutting down forests and in some cases, polluting sources of drinking water.
'We're slowly dying,' a representative of the Penan people from Malaysia told journalists at a press conference here.
'We are asking that Credit Suisse give back the profits generated by the stock exchange debut, 10 mln usd, to the indigenous peoples harmed by Samling,' said Lukas Straumann of the Swiss environmental group, the Bruno Manser Fund.
Samling operates on 3.9 mln hectares across Malaysia's Sarawak peninsula and Guyana in Latin America alone.
The Fund and another Swiss group, the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV), said they had met with Credit Suisse on Feb 23, but the talks proved fruitless.
They accuse the bank of not adhering to its own charter on sustainable development when agreeing to work with Samling.
They now plan to attend the Credit Suisse's annual general meeting on Friday. along woth invited representatives from the indigenous peoples.
A bank spokesman said a thorough investigation had shown that Samling operated in accordance with all relevant laws.
Credit Suisse will also organise a meeting between the indigenous peoples and Samling itself, he added.
3 comments:
Go get a job and stop trying to
suck on the Swiss government. Damn
lazy people.
5:12 AM is a psychopath, he is youn (vietnamese), no one can educate him!
Thank Switzerland very much for Credit Suisse over timber
Khmer people
Post a Comment