Runners-Up

The Runners-Up section highlights financial institutions that have taken the step to exclude nuclear weapon producers from their investments, but whose policy is not all-inclusive in preventing all types of financial involvement with nuclear weapon companies.

The Runners-Up category is necessarily broad. Financial institutions included range from those with policies nearly eligible for the Hall of Fame, to those with policies that still allow considerable sums of money to be invested in nuclear weapon producers. They are therefore ranked on a four-star scale to illustrate the comprehensiveness of their policies. One-star policies are included to demonstrate that there is a wide and ongoing debate among Financial institutions when it comes to including nuclear weapons association criteria in their socially responsible investment standards. However diverse these policies, they all express a shared understanding that involvement in nuclear weapons production is controversial.

The identification of policies for inclusion in this report is based on peer recommendations. The report does not claim to represent an analysis of all financial institution policies on weapons, rather it provides a snapshot. Those in a position to recommend additional policies for inclusion are invited to do so.


 

The table below shows each of the financial institutions listed in the Runners-Up and whether they meet the criteria for a comprehensive policy.


Methodology:

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.

  • Publicly available policy or policy summary
    The financial institutions listed in this report all have publicly available policies – or summaries thereof – excluding investments in nuclear weapons companies. For practical reasons, the scope of this report is limited to those financial institutions that have an investment policy or a summary of that policy in English.
  • Policy at group level
    We research the group policies only, since the group usually sets the investment policy and since the group directly or indirectly supervises its subsidiaries.
  • Participation in research
    Each financial institution included in the report has been contacted to verify the scope and content of their policies. For institutions that are included in the report for the first time, or those with larger policy changes, this included a standardised detailed questionnaire. For others that were already included in previous reports, contact focused on any changes and possible impact of those changes. This research was conducted between November 2018 and September 2019. Financial institutions that did not respond are not included.

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.

  • 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
  • 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 speci? cally 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.
  • 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.
  • 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, efforts were made to clarify with the institution. 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.

Last updated January 2022