Banking, Finance & Services

Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A., one of the world’s largest insurance companies, pledged not to provide insurance to “transition laggards” (companies that are failing to tackle global warming) for new fossil fuel terminals and power plants, in response to a campaign by activist groups like Greenpeace, InsureOurFuture and ReCommon in Italy. Read More

Tourist visits to the ruins of Machu Picchu, a historic Inca city in the Andes, are a major source of income for Peru. After the government turned over sales of entrance tickets to the site to Joinnus, a private company, an indefinite general strike was declared by local business owners, residents and travel unions. After a week long blockade, the government canceled the privatization. Read More

Tax auditor Raphaël Halet leaked over 28,000 documents outlining schemes created by the Luxembourg offices of global accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to help companies like Apple, Heinz and Pepsi avoid paying taxes. In 2016, local courts found Halet guilty of stealing documents. In 2023, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Halet was a whistleblower rather than a criminal. Read More

IT services provider Fujitsu supplied faulty Horizon accounting software to the UK Post Office in 1999. Over 700 UK Post Office staff were prosecuted for allegedly stealing thousands of pounds sterling. Some committed suicide, others went to jail. Read More

Moti Group, a business conglomerate based in Johannesburg, tried to stop amaBhungane, a South African investigative news website, from reporting on leaked documents about an allegedly corrupt mining deal in Zimbabwe. A court-issued gag order was overturned on appeal in July 2023. Read More

Goldman Sachs bank is a top target of a major new investigation by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) into the “greenwashing” of investment funds to fool investors. They aren't the only ones: Bank of New York Mellon and Deutsche Bank have also been investigated. At stake is the definition of what constitutes high ratings for 'environmental, social, and corporate governance' (ESG) funds which is not defined in U.S. law. Read More

Over 1,000 scientists from 25 different countries staged protests during the week of April 4-9 following the release of the new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC). The protesters, who call themselves the Scientist Rebellion, sought to "highlight the urgency and injustice of the climate and ecological crisis." Read More

Chuck Collins, author of "The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions," speaks by video with Pratap Chatterjee of CorpWatch about the Pandora Papers, and how a group of offshore consultancy firms design shell companies and trusts to help the very rich to avoid paying taxes. Read More

Millions of documents leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) reveal offshore assets of over 30 world leaders, 130 billionaires and 330 politicians, via 14 firms that offer services to set up secrecy and tax dodging entities. ICIJ has named this data collection the Pandora Papers. Read More

JP Morgan, the Wall Street bank, has drawn condemnation from around the world of football, for agreeing to lend €4 billion for a 20 member European Super League that would effectively devastate the existing system of European football leagues. Read More