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Article

3 Mar 2019

Author:
Katarina Heissenberger, Analyst, Responsible Investments, Swedbank, Sweden

Swedbank’s response to the Fair Action report “Broke in Bangladesh”

Swedbank Robur outperforms the other investors in the report by Fair Action, both in the total comparison as well as regarding engagement per company. Swedbank is also the most active owner with own, direct engagement dialogues with textile and apparel brands specifically targeting wage.

 However, we are not satisfied at this level. Human Rights and labour standards are central in Swedbank Robur’s company analyses. In textile production these issues are extra exposed and we follow the development closely. Already in 2002 Swedbank Robur raised directly with apparel brands, the need for social risk assessments in their supply chains. Swedbank early identified wage as a material sustainability issue in apparel and included it in engagement dialogues with companies starting 2012. Thereby we have contributed to bringing these issues to the agenda of companies and we have pushed them further regarding open and transparent communication of their actions and results. We have a responsibility and we will continue our engagement with companies around fair living wages.

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