Bank exits rubber firm: NGO
Global Witness, a United Kingdom-based NGO, has alleged that Deutsche Bank has dropped the majority of its holdings in a Vietnamese company that operates rubber plantations in Cambodia, amid accusations the firm is involved in land grabbing and illegal logging.
In a statement released today, Global Witness says the German banking giant has informed the NGO that it has divested from Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL), which operates on economic land concessions in Ratanakkiri province. …
Deutsche Bank spokesman Michael West said the bank does not comment on specific transactions but “the small shareholding referred to was through funds managed by a third party on behalf of external investors”. …
Following a Global Witness report in May that was critical of HAGL’s practices and Deutsche Bank’s alleged involvement in the company, the bank told the Post that it did not provide any financing at all to HAGL.
“Deutsche Bank provides clerical trustee services to HAGL as it does to many thousands of listed companies globally,” a spokesman said at the time.
But Global Witness alleges that Deutsche Bank has invested in HAGL “for many years”. …
Representatives of HAGL told Post reporters last week that it owned only three companies that held ELCs in Cambodia.
Although those companies were in possession of almost 30,000 hectares in total, the representatives, who did not want to be named, said HAGL was doing nothing illegal. …
Shane Worrell
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/bank-exits-rubber-firm-ngo
