This Week in ESG and Impact Investing

Full Committee Hearing SEC Proxy Access Proposals: Implications for Investors Thursday, September 27, 2007, 10:00 a.m., 2128 Rayburn House Office Building

From: American Banker Newspaper Wednesday, September 19, 2007 By Katie Kuehner-Hebert Banks that target minority groups, particularly Hispanics and Asian-Americans, are reporting asset growth well above the industry average, largely because of an influx of immigrants. However, on average these banks are less profitable and less efficient than mainstream ones, according to a report published last week by Creative Investment Research Inc. , a Washington consulting firm that focuses on minority banking. Assets at minority-owned banks are on pace to increase by an average of 17.43% this year, compared with the overall industry average of 6.38%, according to the report, which cited data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and other sources. William Michael Cunningham , the consulting firm's president and chief executive, said the trend reflects both the increased number of start-ups targeting Hispanics — about a dozen have opened since the end of 2005 — and the continued

As we noted on August 10th, turmoil at the SEC means that paths to an optimized shareholder access and proxy policy, while then still present, are fewer in number. We continue to believe the SEC will limit shareholder rights. A 9/12/07 article in the Washington Post supports this belief. Thus, we are now almost certain that the restrictive shareholder access proposal we discussed on July 20th will be adopted. According to Portfolio.com, "The Social Investment Forum, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility and Ceres, a coalition of investors, environmental groups and others, unveiled a new web site to attract 500 institutions and financial professionals to sign a joint statement against proposed S.E.C. changes." For a number of reasons, these efforts will probably be ineffective.