Shareholders to Vote on Ground-Breaking Economic Security Resolution Tomorrow at Goldman Sachs Annual Meeting
A ground-breaking bylaw amendment resolution to create a board committee on economic security at Goldman Sachs will be addressed and voted on by shareholders at the annual meeting located at 32 Old Slip in New York City, on Friday, May 8, 2009. The resolution is the first in the nation to call upon a major bank holding company that received billions of dollars in federal bailout funds, loan guarantees and government insurance, to align its policies to be consistent with protecting the economic security of the United States.
Napa, CA (PRWEB) May 7, 2009
A ground-breaking bylaw amendment resolution to create a board committee on economic security at Goldman Sachs will be addressed and voted on by shareholders at the annual meeting located at 32 Old Slip in New York City, on Friday, May 8, 2009.
John Harrington, President/CEO of Harrington Investments, Inc. (HII), a socially responsible investment advisory firm, will present the resolution at 9:30 A. M. EST
The resolution is the first in the nation to call upon a major bank holding company that received billions of dollars in federal bailout funds, loan guarantees and government insurance, to align its policies to be consistent with protecting the economic security of the United States.
Harrington introduced similar resolutions at Bank of America and Citigroup, but they were challenged at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by corporate management's legal staff on technical grounds. The SEC allowed both banks to exclude the resolutions from their proxy ballots.
Harrington is concerned that Goldman Sachs, originally a 140-year old investment bank, which sought federal protection and a large bailout by taxpayers, will continue to trade derivatives, speculate and leverage public dollars and create further risk in the U. S. economy, while neglecting its fiduciary duty to align the bank's interest with the U. S. public interest.
Harrington, a life-long human rights advocate, is also concerned that Goldman's $2.6b investment in the Chinese government's Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) will be used to undermine U. S. national security interests. The Chinese communist government's banks fund weapons and telecommunications research, and China has a history of utilizing its technology to "hack" into U. S. defense and Pentagon computers as well as breach U. S. Department of Defense weapons contractor's computer systems to collect data and information that may compromise national security.
Bank of America has also invested in a bank controlled by the Chinese government; the China Construction Bank (CCB). A Bank of America employee serves on the CCB board of directors.
In addition to Goldman's ICBC investment in China, the bank has invested in everything from Chinese pig farms to major cement makers. Goldman has also underwritten securities to raise capital for the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Petro China. CNPC operates illegally in Tibet and Petro China economically supports the Sudanese government's genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.
About Harrington Investments, Inc
Harrington Investments, Inc (HII) is a Napa based registered investment advisor and has been a leader in socially responsible investing and shareholder advocacy for over 25 years. John Harrington, president of HII, has been in the SRI field for over 37 years, founding Working assets Money Fund, Progressive Asset Management, Waterhealth International, Global Partners LLC, Community Commercial Ventures, LLC and several other socially and environmentally-oriented companies. More information is available at http://www. harringtoninvestments. com (http://www. harringtoninvestments. com).
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