View Letter

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., on behalf of the New York City Pension Funds, today called on 12 overseas companies to disclose specific actions they are taking to address the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

“Consistent with internationally accepted standards of corporate social responsibility and good corporate citizenship, companies with business operations in Sudan should act to address the humanitarian crisis,” Thompson wrote to each company. “Such companies should actively advance the protection of human rights and pressure the government of Sudan to end the atrocities in Darfur.”

Thompson is the custodian and investment advisory to the five Pension Funds:  New York City Employees’ Retirement System, New York City Teachers’ Retirement System, New York City Police Department Pension Fund, New York City Fire Department Pension Fund, and New York City Board of Education Retirement System.

The Pension Funds hold 39,735,239 shares worth $916,648,435 in the dozen companies.

You can view one of the letters at www.comptroller.nyc.gov.

The companies that received letters were selected based in part on an analysis of the companies’ business activities in Sudan provided in a report by the Conflict Securities Advisory Group, which is a Washington, DC-based independent research organization that profiles publicly-traded companies that have business ties to Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Iraq and North Korea.

So far, Thompson has sent letters to:  Telfonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson of Stockholm, Sweden; China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation of Beijing, China; Finmeccanica SpA of Rome, Italy; Intertek Group PLC of the United Kingdom;  Norvatis AG of Basel, Switzerland; Petrochina Company, Ltd. Of Beijing, China; Sygenta AG of Basel, Switzerland; Bayer AG of Leverkusen, Germany; Royal Dutch Shell of The Netherlands; Siemens AG of Munich, Germany; Sulzer Ltd. of Switzerland; and Schneider Electric SA of France.

“As a fiduciary of the New York City Pension Funds, I am concerned about the risks to our investments in companies that fail to take substantial actions in Sudan,” Thompson wrote today. “Sudan has been designated a ‘state sponsor of terrorism’ by the U.S. State Department.”

The Comptroller noted that President Bush recently announced tougher economic sanctions against Sudan, and called on the United Nations to take additional actions to end the violence in Darfur.

Thompson further expressed that calls for divestment by public pension funds are increasing, and that such actions could negatively impact a company’s reputation and stock price. He asked the companies to report back to his office by July 31.

“As a fiduciary dedicated to protecting the deferred wages of NYCERS’ members, I believe that we must demand that companies doing business in the Sudan must be held accountable for their actions and must be pressured to alleviate the humanitarian crisis and end the civil war,” said NYCERS Trustee Lillian Roberts, Executive Director, District Council 37, AFSCME, AFL-CIO. “In doing so, I believe that the New York City Retirement Systems are acting to both protect the assets of the pension systems and contributing to a solution in Darfur.  I urge other pension funds to join in these efforts.”
 
NYCERS Trustee and New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum said: “As trustees of the City Pension Funds with large holdings of companies that do business in Sudan, we will not sit idly by watching the human tragedy in Darfur. We will continue to use our status as shareholders to help the people of the region and bring an end to the suffering that long has persisted.”

This is not the first time that Thompson has urged companies to become actively involved in providing humanitarian relief and supporting peace efforts in Sudan. Last June, he asked 14 companies to provide an in-kind support for humanitarian efforts and called on companies to urge the Sudanese Government to end the violence in Darfur and live up to its commitments to disarm and demobilize the Janjaweed militia. And in August 2005, he had asked companies to review their business ties to Sudan, paying particular attention to potential and reputational risks.

Since taking office, Thompson has taken actions that have resulted in decisions by companies to sever ties with terrorism-sponsoring nations. Among those companies were General Electric, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, Cooper Cameron, Aon Corporation and Foster Wheeler, Ltd.

The Pension Fund trustees are:

Besides Thompson, trustees on the New York City Fire Department Pension Fund are:
Mayor Michael Bloomberg; New York City Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta (Chair); New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark; Stephen Cassidy, President, James Slevin, Vice President, Robert Straub, Treasurer, and John Kelly, Brooklyn Representative and Chair, Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York; Peter Gorman, President and Captains’ Rep., Nicholas J. Visconti, Chiefs’ Rep., and Stephen J. Carbone, Lieutenants’ Rep., Uniformed Fire Officers Association; and, Joseph Gagliardi, Marine Engineers Association.

In addition to Thompson, trustees on the New York City Police Pension Fund are: Mayor Michael Bloomberg; New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark; New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly (Chair); Patrick Lynch, Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association; Michael Palladino, Detectives Endowment Association; Edward Mullins, Sergeants Benevolent Association; Anthony Garvey, Lieutenants Benevolent Association; and, John Driscoll, Captains Endowment Association.

Serving with Thompson on the New York City Employees’ Retirement System board are: New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark (Chair); New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum; Borough Presidents Scott Stringer (Manhattan), Helen Marshall (Queens), Marty Markowitz (Brooklyn), Adolfo Carrion (Bronx), and James Molinaro (Staten Island); Lillian Roberts, Executive Director, District Council 37, AFSCME; Roger Toussaint, President Transport Workers Union Local 100; and, Gregory Floyd, President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 237.

In addition to Thompson, trustees on the Teachers’ Retirement System board are: New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark (Chair); Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm, New York City Department of Education; and, Sandra March, Melvyn Aaronson and Mona Romain, all of the United Federation of Teachers.

The BERS Board of Trustees is comprised of: mayoral appointees Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein, Alan D. Aviles, Philip A. Berry, David C. Chang, Tino Hernandez, Edison O. Jackson, Richard L. Menschel and Marita Regan; Borough President appointees Luis Peguero (Bronx), Martine G. Guerrier (Brooklyn), Vivian Farmery (Manhattan), Michael Flowers (Queens), and Joan Correale (Staten Island); and employee members Thomas J. Malanga of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 891, and Milagros Rodriguez of District Council 37, Local 372.

###