http://www.downtoearth-indonesia.org/story/indonesian-coal-company-london-stock-exchange
An Indonesian coal company on the London Stock Exchange The KPC mine, East Kalimantan - one of the world’s biggest open-cast coal mines. (Photo: JATAM) DTE 91-92, May 2012 Campaigners are calling for the UK government to tighten up the rules for companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. A new report, launched in February 2012, includes a case study by DTE on the newly created Bumi plc. This company, is jointly owned by Indonesia’s Bakrie brothers - powerful players in national politics as well as business – and the UK financier Nat Rothschild. Bumi operates one of the world’s biggest coal mines, Kaltim Prima Coal in East Kalimantan, a vast open pit project long associated with evictions, livelihood loss, pollution, strikes and dubious business deals.[1] London Mining Network, an alliance of 27 human rights, development and environmental groups, is calling on the British government to firm up the rules for companies listing on London’s Stock Exchange (LSE) as part of the discussion on a new Financial Services Bill. Looking at eight case studies, UK-Listed Mining Companies & the Case for Stricter Oversight argues that: a.. Many mining companies listed in London have very poor records of complicity in human rights abuse, environmental pollution or destruction of people’s cultures and livelihoods around the world. b.. Once listed in London, some mining companies have continued to flout the law in the countries where they operate, or engage in damaging tax avoidance, or break accepted international mining industry standards, with no move by the UK Listing Authority to discipline them. The report follows on from dramatic developments at the end of February in which a proposed opencast coal mine in Bangladesh being developed by GCM, one of the eight case studies used in the report, was condemned as “threatening human rights” by an independent panel of UN experts.[2] At the launch, John McDonnell MP said “We cannot stand by and witness these global mining companies brutally impoverishing and destroying the lives and environments of whole communities. We need not only to expose this exploitation but also to demand that a firm system of international regulation, control and accountability is put in place that halts the destructive activities of these corporate pirates.” In addition to Bumi, the seven London-listed mining companies looked at in the report are African Barrick, Brinkley Mining, African Minerals, London Mining, Vedanta Resources, Glencore and GCM Resources. In April and September 2011, LMN submitted comments to the UK Treasury's consultations on the new proposals which include establishing a new body called Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Based on knowledge of the social, environmental and human rights impacts of mining around the world, LMN considers that this new body needs to be equipped with the authority, expertise, personnel and funding to enable it to exercise vigilance over all UK-listed companies in a way that has been lacking in the past. Reform of securities regulation must result in much stricter oversight, particularly of companies involved in mining and trading in minerals. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
