In a press release issued on 22 January, KBC Group claimed compliance with all aspects of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The group reaffirmed the policy changes that took effect after the adoption of the treaty, resulting in all nuclear weapons now classified as controversial.
KBC’s policy on arms-related activities excludes all companies involved in the production or development of controversial weapons from investment. In June 2018, KBC significantly expanded the scope of this policy regarding nuclear weapons. In the previous policy KBC only excluded nuclear weapon producers from investment if they were from countries that are not member of NATO or the NPT.
The new policy covers nuclear weapons “as banned by the 2017 UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons” and excludes all producers regardless of their country of origin. However, companies involved in a joint venture that produces nuclear weapons are only excluded when they are the majority shareholder.[i]
In the Don’t Bank on the Bomb report “Shorting our Security– Financing the companies that make nuclear weapons”, KBC was listed for an outstanding loan to Serco. That loan has since expired, and KBC no longer has any outstanding loans to the identified nuclear weapon producing companies.
KBC’s transparency in policy and in publishing their blacklist is commendable. While there are still areas in which their policy could be improved, their efforts to be in good standing under the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is a demonstration of one of the ways the TPNW empowers practical steps towards a nuclear weapon free world.
[27 January 2021][i] KBC, “Group policy on arms-related activities”, June 2018, page 1, available at https://www.kbc.com/en/system/files/doc/sustainability-reponsability/FrameworkPolicies/CSD_KBCGroupPolicyonArms-relatedActivities.pdf, viewed 10 July 2018; KBC, “KBC group policy on blacklisted companies”, May 2019, page 1, available at https://www.kbc.com/en/system/files/doc/sustainability-reponsability/FrameworkPolicies/CSD_KBCGroupPolicyonBlacklistedCompanies.pdf, viewed 10 July 2019.