Patagonia to support grassland renewal in Argentina
Patagonia Inc. aims to restore over 6m hectares of grassland in its namesake region in Argentina, and bring a new line of sustainable merino wool products to consumers. The clothing retailer will work in partnership with the Nature Conservancy and Argentine rancher network Ovis XXI. The groups say the goal is to reverse overgrazing by implementing a sustainable sheep-grazing protocol. Under the partnership, the Nature Conservancy will provide scientific expertise and monitoring to ranchers, and Patagonia Inc.’s purchase agreement will encourage ranchers to raise and graze their sheep in a way that supports the long-term health of the region. (Environmental Leader)
Environment
HP partners with car firms for hazardous waste compliance
Hewlett Packard has embarked on a pioneering initiative to help some of the world’s largest car manufacturers eliminate harmful substances from their supply chains. The IT firm is working with 34 companies including BMW, Daimler, Ford, Porsche, Jaguar Land Rover and Volvo to facilitate the sharing of hazardous waste information through a global data repository. The international material data system (IMDS) contains details of every substance involved in the manufacture of all vehicle components. This information will help ensure manufacturers and their supply chains meet regulations related to hazardous substances, by preventing the use of heavy metals, and ensuring that reportable substances are declared for recycling. (Edie)
Corporate Reputation
Nestle liable over spying on NGO
Nestlé, whose clashes with activists over sales of baby milk formula in Africa led to widespread boycotts in the 1980s, has been found liable in a civil case over the infiltration of an NGO. A Swiss court has ordered Nestlé and the security company Securitas AG to pay compensation following revelations that an infiltrator had attended meetings of Attac, an anti-globalisation group. The long-running case began in 2008 when Attac filed criminal and civil allegations against the two companies after Swiss TV alleged that an Attac workgroup had been infiltrated by a Securitas employee on behalf of Nestlé in 2003. The criminal case was dropped in 2009, but the civil case continued. (Financial Times*)
HSBC recruits crime-fighting panel
HSBC has recruited a panel of experts to boost its defences against financial crime, two months after the bank was fined almost $2bn by US authorities over Mexican money laundering and sanctions breaches. The bank announced the creation of a new Financial System Vulnerabilities Committee, to help HSBC identify areas where it, and the financial system, could be exposed to financial crime. The committee will consider issues such as anti money-laundering systems, the prevention of terrorist financing and enforcement of financial sanctions. (Financial Times*)
Top firms behind 1 in 5 schemes to avoid tax
In anticipation of their appearance before the Public Accounts Committee today, it has emerged that Britain’s four biggest accountancy firms created 79 tax avoidance schemes in the past three years. PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Deloitte, Ernst & Young and KPMG structured almost a fifth of all tax schemes disclosed since 2009. The ‘Big Four’ disclosed the schemes to HM Revenue & Customs under the ‘Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Scheme’ (DOTAS) rules. DOTAS, requires any promoter or creator to tell the taxman about any financial planning where a “tax advantage is the main benefit or one of the main benefits of the arrangement”. (Times*)
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