Posted on 01/05/10 at 8:17am by Ed Liston
TIAA-CREF, the large US based fund with $402 billion in assets under management, has sold its stakes in a group of Asian energy companies over human rights concerns in Sudan.
The fund has sold stakes in China’s PetroChina Company Limited (ADR) (NYSE: PTR), CNPC Hong Kong and Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co. (ADR) (NYSE: SHI) and India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. The stakes were only a small percentage of the company's market capitalization but could create pressure over their business ties with Sudan.
Many US universities, state pension funds and other organizations have sold shares of the companies doing business with Sudan. The Sudanese government has been blamed for war crimes in Darfur. Many Asian energy companies have invested in the oil rich Sudan. Human rights activists believe that the royalty payment these companies pay to Sudan has allowed the government in Khartoum to fund its activities in Darfur.
The International Criminal Court has charged Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al Bashir with crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur. Human rights activists have put pressure on US based funds to divest their stakes in companies that do business with Sudan.