Meritas Financial Inc., the manager of the Meritas Mutual Funds family of Socially Responsible Investments (SRI), has filed shareholder resolutions with the five major Canadian banks. Meritas, based in Cambridge, Ont. is asking the Royal Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, Toronto Dominion Bank, Bank of Montreal and CIBC to report on how social, environmental, and ethical issues impact their business.
Meritas is also asking each of the organizations to outline what they are doing to manage the associated risks. In filing these resolutions, Meritas joins Real Assets Investment Management Inc. and Ethical Funds Inc. in asking the banks for increased transparency and disclosure in these important reporting areas.
“I am often asked how the banks pass our set of standards for Socially Responsible Investing when some of their biggest clients may be companies that we would exclude from our portfolios,” said Gary Hawton, CEO of Meritas Mutual Funds, in a new release. “I believe that these resolutions are a step towards the level of disclosure that is necessary for SRI investors to better determine the level of risks involved in each of these organizations.”
“We are asking the banks to do something that, in our opinion, they essentially promised,” said Hawton referring to a United Nations statement declaring sustainable development as a fundamental aspect of sound business management that all five of the banks signed a decade ago. “In signing this statement, the banks made a promise that they would integrate environmental considerations into their operations and publicly report the steps they have taken in this regard,” added Hawton.
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