Every year, Corporate Knights Inc publishes a list of the Global top 100 most sustainable companies. This list includes companies that “are sustainable in the sense that they have displayed a better ability than most of their industry peers to identify and effectively manage material environemental, social and governamental factors impacting the opportunity and risk sides of their business“.
That is quite a line. And one would really expect to see solid companies in that list.
What springs to mind however: the dutch entrant for 2008. The ING Group. Last night it was announced that this bank needed an additional 20billion € to upgrade their financial position, just days after having assured the world that their position was fine. However, no one really believed that story, resulting in an enormous run on their stock last friday. Over the weekend the Dutch government had to step in and help ING with this massive loan.
One can only wonder how a company like that is on the Global top 100 most sustainable corporations in the world list.
Does this not prove that ratings, also the ones provided by Moody’s and such do not really provide the kind of information the investors think that it does. Must we stop in believing rater agency’s and suchs? Where will this all end.
I don’t really know, but one thing i’m sure of, things have to change and change fast…
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