“Investors with over US$200b support BankTrack Human Rights Benchmark”, 17 March 2020

While private sector banks…contribute to economic growth and prosperity,…they can also facilitate…activities that are associated with adverse impacts on people’s fundamental welfare and dignity.

…80 investors representing over US$200 billion,…coordinated by the Investor Alliance for Human Rights, have released a statement of support for the BankTrack Human Rights Benchmark. The Benchmark has analyzed the public disclosure of 50 of the world’s largest banks against four aspects: policy commitment, human rights due diligence, reporting, and access to remedy. 

…[The] Benchmark acknowledges…improvements,…but found…40 out of the 50 evaluated banks achieved a score of 6 or less out of a possible 14 points, indicating that the vast majority of the evaluated banks are implementing less than half of the expectations outlined in the UN Guiding Principles. [O]nly 12 of the analyzed banks demonstrated senior-level sign-off of their human rights policy commitments…