Credit Suisse, along with other major banks, has been pilloried as a financier of environmentally damaging oil production in the Amazon. Now the bank has made a decision.
Credit Suisse (CS) is withdrawing from the trade financing of oil from the Amazon region. This is what the bank said to environmental organizations, which had criticized the Swiss bank for this. As the bank confirmed to «Bloomberg», it has now said goodbye to such business.
Dutch bank ING and French rival BNP Paribas also backed out, according to the report. The report also mentions UBS, where former ING boss Ralph Hamers has been CEO since last November. According to environmental organizations, the largest Swiss bank has provided around $850 million for the oil trade from the South American country since 2009, while CS has provided as much as $1.8 billion.
Environmental Disaster in Ecuador
UBS was only quoted by the news organization as saying that the bank was committed to the highest environmental standards. Where these were not met, it would withdraw.
UBS and CS are not or were not among the direct financiers of the oil trade in the Amazon. The business is organized by commodity companies. The increased criticism was prompted by an environmental disaster last April after a landslide damaged three oil pipelines in Ecuador. 2.5 million liters of oil flowed into the Amazon, polluting fishing grounds and drinking water. Ecuador has the third-largest oil reserves in South America, after Venezuela and Brazil.
First Coal, Soon Plastic
CS's decision in the Amazon marks a further step in the big bank's withdrawal from the financing of fossil fuels. Last year, the bank also announced that it would steer clear of coal production and power, as well as oil and gas production in the Arctic. Elsewhere, however, the bank still has some work to do: CS recently came under fire for its role as a financier of the plastics industry.
