Five major chocolate and candy companies have announced a joint commitment to reduce calories in many sweets sold on the US market, a rare example of cooperation in a competitive industry and testament to rising consumer distaste for sugar. The announcement comes after the US Food and Drug Administration overhauled packaged foods labelling last year and required all manufacturers to list added sugars on labels by 2018. Companies including Mars Chocolate, Nestlé, Wrigley and Lindt & Sprüngli, said they had committed to ensuring that half of their individually wrapped products sold in the United States contain no more than 200 calories within the next five years. The companies could cut calories by reducing package sizing or reformulating recipes, as well as launching new products. (Reuters)
Supply Chain
Balfour Beatty ‘leading the way’ on ISO 20400 sustainable procurement standard
UK construction contractor Balfour Beatty has become the first company globally to be assessed to the ISO 20400 standard for sustainable procurement, which was formally published last month. The standard incorporates the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, as well as the requirements of ISO 26000 (social responsibility). It also takes into consideration new concepts such as life-cycle analysis, due diligence, complicity and global cost. Balfour Beatty is a member of the Supply Chain School, an initiative which represents a common approach to sustainability within supply chains that includes companies such as Carillion, Skanska and Willmott Dixon. (Edie)
Responsible Investment
Top UK fund manager divests from fossil fuels
One of Britain’s biggest managers of ethical funds is to dump £20 million of shares in fossil fuel companies in one of the biggest divestments so far because of climate change. Shares in BHP Billiton, the Anglo-Australian mining giant, will be among those sold by BMO Global Asset Management’s range of “responsible” funds, which manage £1.5 billion of assets. The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, played a crucial role in the divestment, as president of BMO’s responsible investment council. The Church of England has already pulled out of investing in companies that make more than 10% of its revenues from thermal coal or oil from tar sands. BMO’s divestment goes further, banning all companies with fossil fuel reserves from being in its responsible funds range. (Guardian)
Corporate Reputation
Aspen Pharmacare faces EU probe over cancer drug price rises
Brussels has launched a formal investigation into Aspen Pharmacare, over claims that the drug company raised the price of five cancer medicines up to several hundred per cent and withdrew the drugs from some markets to impose its price rises. The move marks the first time the commission has investigated a drug company for excessively high pricing. Aspen raised the price of busulfan from £5.20 to £65.22 a pack in 2013 — an increase of more than 1,100 per cent. Aspen did not comment on the reported figures. Italian investigators said in October that “the negotiation strategy adopted by Aspen was so aggressive as to reach the credible threat of interrupting the direct supply of the drugs” to the market. (Financial Times)*
Ex-Nomura traders latest sued over lies about bonds
Two former Nomura Holdings traders, James Im and Kee Chan, were sued by US regulators for allegedly lying to clients about bond prices, generating an extra $750,000 in profits for the trading desk. The cases are the latest in the US government’s crackdown on how bonds are traded. Since the 2008 financial crisis, more than 20 Wall Street traders have been placed on leave or dismissed from their jobs amid the investigations. According to the agency’s complaint, Im continued to misrepresent bond prices even after the 2013 indictment of another trader prompted Nomura to warn its employees about truthfulness. The bank told them, “first and foremost for everyone is do not lie”. (Bloomberg)
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