Responsibility extends beyond corporate boundaries

For years, the French Bolloré Group has been accused of failing to fulfil its duty of care regarding human rights abuses in connection with rubber and palm oil plantations in Africa and Asia. Given the company's unwillingness to engage in dialogue on this issue, SVVK has decided to recommend the company's exclusion.

Bolloré is a French conglomerate active in a wide range of businesses including logistics, energy, advertising, publishing, and television («Canal+»). Controlled by the Bolloré family, the company is also a major shareholder in the Luxembourg-based Socfin Group, which operates rubber and palm oil plantations in Central and West Africa and Southeast Asia.

Displacement and violence

For more than a decade, Socfin, which has an important presence in Switzerland, has been accused of serious human rights abuses. Its plantations in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Cambodia are alleged to have systematically violated the land rights of the local population. Entire villages have had to make way for plantations, and some of the rightful owners have been forcibly evicted. Life on the plantations is also marked by violence and sexual harassment. An investigation commissioned by Socfin last year has largely confirmed these allegations.

Bolloré has a duty of responsibility

The OECD Guidelines, which are also supported by Switzerland, oblige multinational companies to protect human rights within their sphere of influence. Despite the clarity of this internationally recognised standard, Bolloré does not consider itself bound by it in relation to Socfin. Since 2010, there have been repeated complaints to the OECD contact points, which mediate in disputes. But so far without success. An action plan agreed in 2013 was declared unfeasible in 2014. A lawsuit is pending before a French court to enforce its implementation.

SVVK’s dialogue focuses on prevention

As part of its regular portfolio screening, SVVK identified a potential breach of its normative basis by Bolloré. In 2020, the association sought to engage in a dialogue with via Sustainalytics. In doing so, SVVK members were not interested in judging what had happened. As investors, they wanted to avoid a repetition of similar events in the future. Specifically, SVVK asked that Bolloré insist on the effective implementation of its human rights guidelines within its sphere of influence. In particular, Bolloré should demand that Socfin ensures the consent of the affected population to its plantation projects. This consent must be freely given, prior and well informed (referred to as FPIC: «free, prior and informed consent»). However, as in the OECD mediation process, Bolloré insisted on its position: as a minority shareholder of Socfin, it could not take action.

An unconvincing argument

SVVK deems this argument to be unconvincing, given the possibility of exerting influence in the sense of the OECD guidelines. The Bolloré Group holds almost 40 per cent of Socfin, while 55 per cent is owned by Hubert Fabri, a former Bolloré board member and confidant of Vincent Bolloré, the founder and former Chairman/CEO of the same-named company. Together with three sons, they still form the Socfin Executive Board (Socfin, Annual Report 2023). In accordance with the OECD Guidelines, a company is required to protect human rights within its sphere of influence and beyond its corporate boundaries. This encompasses all business relationships, including investee companies (OECD Guidelines, Chapter II, Comment 17).

Exclusion as a last resort

Despite numerous attempts over more than three years, Bolloré has shown no willingness to address its ability to exert influence. Bolloré insists that its responsibility ends at the group boundary. As a result, in June 2023, SVVK recommended to its members to divest their shares in Bolloré and to refrain from investing until further notice.

SVVK remains open to dialogue

SVVK will review and consider withdrawing the recommendation for exclusion if there are no further norms violations over an extended period. As a second condition, a company must demonstrate how it will prevent future violations within its sphere of influence, regardless of the legal boundaries of the group. As the OECD Guidelines recognise, developments in recent decades [...] «have 'increasingly blurred the actual boundaries of the enterprise'». It is therefore no longer sufficient to stop at the group boundary. SVVK remains open to dialogue with Bolloré on this issue.