Ethics is to do with moral principles; for example the
Concise Oxford Dictionary defines the singular form of the word as ‘a set of
moral principles’, such as those practised by the Puritans. Their code of
conduct was based on their interpretation of the Bible, particularly as applicable
to the family which for them was a representation of the church or of the body
of Christ. The husband was the head of the household and his wife was a helper
for him and a mother to their children, all in obedience to him as he was obedient
to Christ.
We’ve just heard on the news that the new Archbishop of
Canterbury will be the Right Reverend Justin Welby, a man who was a former oil
industry executive, currently the Bishop of Durham. Since he has already published
his views on ethical banking he will without a doubt support the Anglican
Church’s criticism of unethical practices in banking and industry. The Church itself
has an ethical investment policy overseen by the EIAG - the Ethical Investments
Advisory Group. They will not invest in or support ‘companies involved in
military products, pornography, alcoholic drinks, gambling, tobacco, human
embryonic cloning and weekly collect home credit.’ The Group also advises on
investments in relation to the environment, especially regarding climate change.
They also approve supply chain ethics, and are sympathetic to supporting agencies
for eradicating HIV/AIDS.
There are three main UK banks that practise the principles
of ethical banking. They are the Co-operative Bank, Nationwide and Tridos.
Lloyds TSB has incorporated Shariah approved banking practices into their business.
This is to satisfy followers of Islam who require that money handled by the
bank is handled in such a way as to conform to Shariah law. Basically, as I
understand it, the main thing adherents to Shariah law will not subscribe to is
the practice of paying interest on money that is loaned. Banks devise methods
of overcoming this; for example, when a customer wants to become a homeowner,
but he does not have sufficient funds to purchase a property outright, the bank
will buy it and rent it to the person for a fixed term, at the end of which
time the property becomes his. Both parties thereby satisfy Shariah law. The
bank makes a profit by asking in rent more than it paid to buy the property, and the new owner pays no
interest! (If I’ve got this wrong, please let me know.)
Well, I shall seriously have to consider moving from my
current bank, unless I can be persuaded that it, in the main, acts ethically
with the money it handles.
Links
Co-operative Bank
Co-operative Bank’s Ethical Policy
Co-operative Group Sustainability Report
A Summary of our Sustainability Performance
-- The Co-operative Group
Nationwide
Ethical Policies Nationwide
Tridos Bank
Islamic Banking
Ethical Banking.Org
Ethical Banking
God's bankers: How evangelical Christianity is taking a hold
of the City of London’s financial institutions
How Christian can Islamic banking be?
Puritan
Old
Etonian who opposes gay marriage set to be new Archbishop of Canterbury (and
he's only been bishop for A YEAR!)
Justin Welby
Church of England Ethical Investment Advisory Group
No comments:
Post a Comment