Methodology

Nuclear weapons companies 

24 fully profiled companies 
This report describes the involvement of 24 companies in the nuclear weapons industry, for which investments or financing relations with private financial institutions were identified. These companies are heavily involved in the nuclear weapons industry through providing key components or services that contribute to activities prohibited under the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, including the development, production, manufacture, possession and stockpiling of nuclear weapons systems. Such involvement may be related to warheads, or to specifically designed nuclear capable delivery systems, like missiles. Since the 2023 Don’t Bank on the Bomb publication, contributions to the construction and maintenance of nuclear armed submarines (SSBNs) also fall within the report’s methodological scope, as these launch platforms are specifically designed for the delivery of nuclear weapons.   

Watchlist 
The selected list of nuclear weapons producers is not an exhaustive list of all companies involved in the nuclear weapons industry. In addition to the 24 companies fully profiled, this report also includes a watchlist, which provides additional information the nuclear weapons enterprise. For example, some watchlist companies build the facilities that allow for the stationing, installation, or deployment of nuclear weapons. For other companies, no investments or financing relations with private financial institutions were identified, but information may still be of interest. The watchlist also includes companies who act as subcontractors, as well as companies for which ties to the nuclear weapons enterprise have been identified, but where sufficient information to clarify the precise scope of activities related to nuclear weapons production, deployment or stockpiling is unavailable. The profiles included in the watchlist are not a comprehensive review of companies of this nature. Rather, they are examples of the types of companies that are also involved in the nuclear weapon industry.
 

Financiers
This report also lists the financial institutions with investment or financing relationships with one or more of the 24 nuclear weapons producers. This includes the providing of loans and other forms of credit (commercial banking), underwriting of share and bond issuances (investment banking), investments in shares and bonds (asset management) and other financial services. Investments can be made by financial institutions on their own behalf or on behalf of third parties. Financial institutions are listed at the parent group level, and the total amounts listed include their subsidiaries. The companies concerned are often active in a wide range of markets and, as such, also engaged in activities other than their involvement in nuclear weapons production. This report does not claim that the entirety of capital provided by financial institutions listed exclusively flows to nuclear weapon related activities. Nevertheless, financing a company generally supports that company in its entirety, thereby connecting the financial institution to the company’s overall activities. It is impossible to ensure that funds provided will not facilitate nuclear weapons production, as even ‘earmarked’ funds provided by lenders or bond underwriters tend to free other capital flows that companies can use at their discretion.  

This report does not list every single investment or line of credit granted to the 24 companies profiled. Government financing is not included. Moreover, only those financial institutions which were found to have the most substantial financing relationships with one or more of the selected companies are listed. For this purpose, the following criteria were applied: 

  • All financial institutions which were found to participate in loans and underwriting deals since 1 January 2022 are listed. In addition, to provide a fuller picture of the overall credit granted to the nuclear weapons producing companies, participation in loans which were closed before that date, but have not matured before 1 October 2023, is included in this report.  
  • All financial institutions which were found to own at least 0.5% of the outstanding shares or bonds of one or more of the profiled companies at most recent filing dates are listed. As of August 2024, data was collected at the most recent filing date, which in most cases corresponds to June 28th, 2024. 

The information is retrieved from annual reports, financial statements, company registries, investment portfolios of pension funds, company websites, media archives, as well as from specialized financial databases (Refinitiv Eikon, Refinitiv EMAXX, Bloomberg and IJGlobal). While these sources of information are reputable and well-known, they are themselves not comprehensive. The numbers provided in the report are therefore a conservative estimation of the total global financing of the nuclear weapons industry.  

Certain figures in this report may not tally exactly due to rounding. All figures are presented in United States Dollars (USD, $) unless otherwise indicated. Commas (,) are used as thousands separators. 

 

This methodology is used in our last report At Great Cost (February 2025)

 

Policy research financial institutions

Financial institutions can be banks, pension funds, asset managers, insurance companies and others. To identify financial institutions with a policy on nuclear weapons, a variety of sources were used: NGO reports, screening-agency information, financial institution reports and websites, information from campaigners and other public sources. The list of institutions in the Hall of Fame and Runners-Up is not an exhaustive overview of all financial institutions with policies on nuclear weapons worldwide. We welcome additional information and recommended policies to profile from those able to provide them.

Minimum requirements

To qualify for inclusion in the report, there are a number of minimum requirements. If these criteria are met, additional criteria determine whether a financial institution is listed in the Hall of Fame or Runners-Up section.

  • The institutions has a publicly available policy or policy summary
  • The policy applies at group level
  • The institutions has participated in the research

Hall of Fame and Runners-Up

If these requirements are met, the following criteria are used to determine whether a financial institution’s policy is comprehensive and therefore merits a place in the Hall of Fame. Policies that do not meet one or more of the criteria are listed in the Runners-Up.

1. Exclude all nuclear weapon associated companies

The policy excludes:

  • whole companies, not only nuclear weapons related projects
  • companies associated with nuclear weapons including through joint ventures
  • companies regardless of their country of origin
  • companies regardless of their country of operation

2. Exclude all nuclear weapon associated activities

The policy excludes companies associated with:

  • development, testing, production, maintenance or trade of nuclear weapons related technology, parts, products or services.
  • delivery systems such as missiles, that are specifically developed for nuclear tasks. This includes technology that is designed for ‘dual use’ (military and civilian) but excludes technology that is not designed for, but can be used in nuclear warfare. It does not include delivery platforms such as bombers and submarines.

3. Apply to all the institution’s products and services

The institution applies the policy:

  • across all entities within the group, including all subsidiaries
  • in all markets
  • to all types of financing and investments, including passive and active, internally and externally managed assets.
  • to all existing and future investments.

4. Implementation check

Each of the financial institutions listed in the Hall of Fame underwent an implementation check to find out whether the institution has any investments in any nuclear weapon producers, as any investment in a nuclear weapon producer can be evidence of poor implementation of the exclusion policy. When evidence of financial links with nuclear weapon producers was found, the institution was contacted to check the findings. Outstanding investments in nuclear weapon producing companies require reclassification to the Runners-Up.

Four star ranking system

Institutions listed in the Hall of Fame have in place comprehensive policies to deal with nuclear weapon producers and meet all the criteria described above. Institutions in the Runners-Up fail to meet one or more of the criteria. They are ranked on a four-star scale to illustrate the comprehensiveness of their policies. One star is awarded for each of the fulfilled criteria.

This methodology is used in our report Moving Away from Mass Destruction (2023)