The RBS Group has written to thousands of customers and campaigners declaring its intention to stop lending money to cluster munitions manufacturers. On September 1, 2011, over 10,000 Amnesty International campaigners received an email from the RBS Group. It refers recipients to the group's policy and states, 'RBS will not knowingly support any application for funding or financial services that would lead to contravention of the Oslo Convention on cluster munitions.'
The RBS Group further vowed to 'suspend all further services to clients', where there is uncertainty regarding compliance with the Convention. There is not yet any word on how this will specifically affect the $80m loan, recently awarded to American firm Alliant Techsystems Inc.; nor the bank's imminent hosting of an arms trade seminar in London.
What are Cluster Bombs?
A cluster bomb consists of an outer shell, which separates in the air to drop up to 2000 fist-sized bomblets. These are distributed over a wide area, up to a 100 mile radius, from where the aeroplane released it.
They can lie undetected for decades after the war is over. Thousands have been dropped over Laos, the former Yugoslavia and Iraq. Thirty-nine years after the end of the Viet Nam war, the Mines Advisory Group, in Laos, are still discovering and detonating cluster bombs dropped there. There have been more deaths in peacetime, due to these hidden munitions, than there were in the war itself.
Royal Bank of Scotland Under Pressure from Human Rights Campaigners.
Since 2009, NGO research groups, IKV Pax Christi (Netherlands) and Netwerk Vlaanderen (Belgian) have published an annually updated joint report, entitled Worldwide Investments in Cluster Munitions; a Shared Responsibility. It named the Royal Bank of Scotland as the top British financial institution for investing in companies involved in cluster bombs. Lloyds TSB, Barclays and HSBC were also named, which caused HSBC to alter its policy to cut ties with the arms trade. However, their statement, in February 2010, was not applied retrospectively, so previous loans to cluster munitions manufacturer Textron remained.
RBS have remained unrepentant until now. An executive, caught on film by Amnesty International's Chris Atkins, was told that the bank makes an average of £20m profit per annum in such investments. Referring to cluster munitions as 'things', the RBS employee disdained any notion of not lending to companies who manufacture them.
Since August 15, 2011, human rights activists have been e-mailing the CEO of Royal Bank of Scotland demanding a change of policy. They were prompted by a national campaign started by Amnesty International UK. The group is now hailing this action to have been a success.
In Which Way Has Royal Bank of Scotland Funded Cluster Bombs?
In October 2010, RBS was part of a banking syndicate that underwrote a $1bn, five year credit facility for Alliant Techsystems Inc. The bank also loaned $80m to the same company, which makes the rocket motors for some of the world's most powerful cluster bombs. RBS had previously contributed $64.38m towards a total $1.5bn credit facility for Lockheed Martin, a manufacturer of cluster bombs.
On September 8th, 2011, RBS will be hosting a seminar, on behalf of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, advising delegates in how to trade arms in the Middle East.
It is not known how RBS's latest statement will impact upon these existing business ventures.
Sources:
- IKV Pax Christi: Worldwide Investments in Cluster Munitions; A Shared Responsibility.
- Alliant Techsystems Inc.
- Amnesty International HumanTV: Booming Business: British Banks and Cluster Bombs. (YouTube, uploaded August 16, 2011.)
- Amnesty International HumanTV: Booming Business: How much does it make us? (YouTube, uploaded August 17, 2011.)
- Amnesty International UK: UK banks and cluster bombs: RBS announces u-turn. (September 1, 2011.)
- The Independent: UK banks fund deadly cluster-bomb industry. (August 16, 2011.)
- London Chamber of Commerce and Industry: Middle East: A vast market for UK Defence and security companies (PDF)
- RBS Group: Personal e-mail to myself, dated September 1, 2011.
Jo Harrington - Jo has a BA (Hons) in History and Philosophy and a MA in History. She has a book published on the history of Wicca.
Join the Conversation