Newsletter June 2006

FIR (Forum pour l’Investissement Responsable) – France

Great success for the 4th edition of the FAIRE
The Annual Forum for European Responsible Investment 2006 was held on June 22nd and 23rd at the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome in Paris.
146 participants (investors, companies, medias, rating agencies, etc.) from all over Europe attended the three round tables co-animated by a broker/asset manager pair during three ½ days. The roundtables included 3 successive speaking slots: one for the experts, one for the responses of companies facing these issues, one for debate with the participants.
3 key CSR subjects discussed:

• Human Rights – Hard or soft issue? Chaired by UBS Investment Bank and BNP Paribas Asset Management,
• Mobility challenges, scenarios & implications chaired by WestLB AG, Crédit Agricole Asset Management and Fortis Investments,
• Environmental liabilities chaired by Cheuvreux and AXA Investment Managers.

French SIF Annual General Meeting
Held on June 21st, 2006 the French SIF Annual General Meeting consolidated the institutional interest of the French actors to join the association. Effectively, 12 new corporate members joined the French SIF last year.

FFS (Forum per la Finanza Sostenibile) – Italy

Disclosure for Banks on CSR
ABI, the Italian Banking Association, is involving FFS’ members in an innovative process of stakeholders dialogue finalised at the development of disclosure guidelines on CSR for the banking sector. The first workshop was held at the end of May 2006; the second is scheduled for early July 2006. Finally, a third round of consultation in September 2006 will conclude the project, with deliverables expected for October 2006.

Pension Fund Disclosure
The Pension Authority is issuing the administrative regulations required for the application of the pension reform. FFS has activated a multi-stakeholder working group to deliver a proposal to regulate the disclosure obligation on SEE aspects.

SRI for Religious Investors
On July 11th, 2006 in Rome FFS will organise a seminar on SRI in cooperation with CEI, the Conference of Italian Bishops. For more information info@finanzasostenibile.it

Conference on Social and Environmental Risks
FFS and Federchimica, the trade association for the chemical sector, organised a conference in Milan on June 15th on social and environmental risks. For more information info@finanzasostenibile.it.

VBDO (Vereniging van Beleggers voor Duurzame Ontwikkeling) – Netherlands

Sustainable Voting at VBDO
VBDO has successfully developed “sustainable voting” by providing sound voting advice, often just in time, at 12 listed companies. VBDO also experimented successfully with electronic proxy voting at five companies, where members gave VBDO voting proxies. VBDO has plans to continue and increase this activity for the 2007 season.

AGM Season
VBDO attended about 40 AGMs over the past few months with questions about transparency and sustainable remuneration to responsible chain management.

End of an Era and New Start for Piet Sprengers
After 11 years of dedicated hard work, VBDO’s founder and director, Piet Sprengers, will leave VBDO on October 1, 2006 and start working at ASN Bank (part of SNS bank) as Head of Sustainability. Currently VBDO is looking for a new director.
Eurosif would like to thank Piet for his loyalty, humour, enthusiasm and drive over the years.

UKSIF (UK Social Investment Forum) - United Kingdom

UKSIF encourages pension funds to adopt responsible investment
The UK Social Investment Forum (UKSIF) as part of its mandate to promote sustainable and responsible investment is launching a new two-year programme aimed at pension funds. The first initiative of its kind, it will encourage companies, which are leading the way on corporate social responsibility (CSR) to also consider environmental and social issues in their pension fund investments.
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