Tobacco shown the door

BNP Paribas has said that it will cease transactions and investments related to the tobacco sector and progressively disengage from relationships with tobacco clients, according to a Bloomberg News story relayed by the TMA.

The France-based banking and financial services group’s clients are said to include British American Tobacco, Imperial Brands and Philip Morris International.

Laurence Pessez, global head of corporate social responsibility at BNP Paribas, said the decision to disengage from the tobacco sector was effective from now, though withdrawal would be progressive to the extent that the bank would honor its commitments to its clients.

BNP said in a statement that its new position applied to firms that earned their revenue mainly from tobacco, including manufacturers, wholesalers and traders.

The move was reportedly prompted by a recent decision by the UN Global Compact to exclude tobacco firms from its initiative for a responsible economy.

Pessez said BNP Paribas had “a certain number of sector-specific policies that govern our interventions in industries considered sensitive, such as defense, nuclear energy, palm oil and agriculture”.