New ASTM Study Reveals Insufficient Commitment to Human Rights by Institutional Actors of the Financial Centre
The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) recognise the responsibility of companies – including those of the financial sector – to respect human rights. To what degree has the Luxembourg financial centre implemented the UNGP, 10 years after their endorsement ? To answer this question, this study takes a look at the human rights policy commitments of institutional actors in the financial centre.
By institutional actors we mean actors who represent, control, or regulate other private actors within the financial centre, and who thus participate in the setting of standards in Luxembourg through policy guidance and policy influence..
LUXEMBOURG’S FINANICAL CENTRE & HUMAN RIGHTS
Within the Luxembourg financial centre, the commitment to human rights is insufficient. This is the main finding of a study in which ASTM (Action Solidarité Tiers Monde) analysed the institutional actors of the financial centre and their policy statements.
Only three out of 22 analysed actors mention human rights in their general governance documents, and even these focus on the voluntary nature of their statement and do not include a recommendation to conduct human rights due diligence. Through four case studies, the report shows how Luxembourg-based financial actors are linked to human rights violations in China, Palestine, and Latin America. As voluntary commitments have proven to be ineffective, a binding human rights due diligence law must be adopted which includes the financial sector. download study22
institutional actors of the financial sector were analysed
3
actors only mention human rights in their governance documents
0
commit to the UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights
CASE STUDIES
The study presents four case studies that show the socio- economic interdependence between the Luxembourg financial sector and the Global South, and demonstrate that voluntary commitments are insufficient to prevent human rights impacts.
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