A Colombian NGO has challenged BNP Paribas over its due diligence regarding its exposure and support for Glencore. Reclaim Finance was asked to comment. BNP Paribas responded and stated that it was not exposed to Glencore. Here is Reclaim Finance\u2019s perspective.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div> On Thursday, May 25th, a radio story and article were published by Radio France (1) about the decision by a Colombian NGO to \u201cmettre en demeure\u201d [serve notice to] BNP Paribas, Cr\u00e9dit Agricole and BPCE for their support for the Swiss mining giant Glencore.<\/p>\n In this article, data from Banking on Climate Chaos (April 12th, 2023) (2) and Investing in Climate Chaos (April 20th, 2023) (3) were cited. The data notably featured a US$ 6.54 billion loan dating from March 2022 to Glencore International, a subsidiary of Glencore PLC, as displayed on the Bloomberg Terminal – which showed BNP Paribas\u2019 involvement, along with 28 global banks.<\/p>\n Over the last few days, it has become clear to Reclaim Finance that this mention on the Bloomberg Terminal until at least May 26th was inaccurate and that BNP Paribas was actually not involved in the reported operation. The relevant modifications in that regard have obviously been integrated to the Banking on Climate Chaos dataset accessible online.<\/p>\n As a reminder, the Bloomberg Terminal is one of the world’s largest providers of finance data and is used by all international financial institutions and other stakeholders in the financial sector.<\/p>\n Following the publication of the article mentioned above:<\/p>\n Before the publication of Radio France\u2019s article, a comprehensive and granular set of all the operations attributed to BNPP as per the Bloomberg Terminal\u2019s indications, including data on the loan made to Glencore International, was shared with BNP Paribas twice by Reclaim Finance.<\/p>\n Data retrieved from Refinitiv, another industry-standard finance database, on June 1st 2023 (with various filling dates) show that BNP Paribas Group remains a shareholder in Glencore PLC through various funds.<\/p>\n However, the most recent data accessible on Bloomberg Terminal shows that, as of June 1st, 2023, a large portion (>99%) of BNP Paribas\u2019 investment exposure, initially retrieved from Bloomberg Terminal on May 30th, 2023, appears to have been removed.<\/span><\/p>\n Then, it might be that, as of today, BNP Paribas, as an investor, is not anymore exposed – other than marginally – to Glencore PLC. Reclaim Finance will closely follow the evolution of the relevant data in future filings on the mentioned databases, so as to confirm the information and update this publication accordingly.<\/span><\/p>\n This case raises important questions about the transparency of the finance sector and the challenges posed by data accuracy, even when relying on the most up-to-date and comprehensive data providers. Financial institutions, and data providers, would therefore benefit from greater transparency in their processes. Yet, from Reclaim Finance\u2019s understanding, BNP Paribas is no longer supporting Glencore, which is a welcome commitment that the NGO will follow closely. Reclaim Finance calls on BNP Paribas to review its coal policy so that it strictly and explicitly rules out companies such as Glencore. <\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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