European banks and financial institutions have together invested tens of billions in companies that sell arms to Israel, NGOs 11.11.11 and FairFin say in a new report. BNP Paribas, of which the Belgian government is a shareholder, is at the top of the list.
Foreign News
European banks invest billions in companies that supply arms to Israel
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For the study, FairFin, 11.11.11 and 17 other NGOs scrutinised the 25 largest arms companies in the world, which together account for some 80% of global arms exports. They found that six companies – Boeing, General Dynamics, Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, RTX and Rolls-Royce – sold arms to Israel between 2019 and now.
The NGOs then listed the 20 European financial institutions that lent the most money to those six companies. These are almost all banks, such as Deutsche Bank and Santander, but the list also includes the European Investment Bank (EIB), the financing vehicle in which all EU countries are shareholders.
The government must intervene and stop these bloody investments
Loans alone account for €36 billion, with equity and bond investments bringing the total to more than €60 billion, the report says.
BNP Paribas is the biggest investor. The French bank – which operates in Belgium as BNP Paribas Fortis – lent €5.7 billion to four of the six companies.
The Belgian state is one of the largest shareholders in the group and Finance minister Vincent Van Peteghem, of Flemish Christian democrats CD&V, currently chairs the EIB’s board of governors. 11.11.11 and FairFin therefore say Belgium has sufficient levers to stop the investments.
“The evidence of Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity is piling up, but arms companies and their financiers stubbornly look the other way and a much-needed arms embargo continues to fail,” said Willem Staes of 11.11.11. “The government must intervene and stop these bloody investments.”
BNP Paribas said in response to the report that while a country has the right to defend itself, the bank follows all international rules and laws and imposes extra-strict policies on itself for the defence sector.