Home Complaints database BankTrack et al., vs. HSBC, Swiss National Bank, UBS Group, and Barclays
Complaint

BankTrack et al., vs. HSBC, Swiss National Bank, UBS Group, and Barclays

Four Swiss and UK banks’ links to human right impacts through their investments in US private prison operators

Date filed
16 January 2024
Keywords
Countries of harm
Current status
Filed
Sector
NCP

Allegations

On 16 January 2024, three civil society organisations, BankTrack, the Coalition for Immigrant Freedom, and Worth Rises, filed complaints against Swiss based-banks UBS and Swiss National Bank and US-based banks Barclays and HSBC to the Swiss and UK NCPs, respectively. The complaints focus on the banks’ direct linkages to human rights harms taking place in US private prisons operated by CoreCivic and GEO Group, in which the banks invest. The complainants allege that the banks have not carried out adequate human rights due diligence with respect to their investments and that they have not sought ways to prevent or mitigate adverse impacts to which they are directly linked. The complainants are seeking increased disclosure and transparency as well as for due diligence to be conducted by the banks, including for the banks to exercise their leverage to mitigate impacts and potentially divest if impacts are not satisfactorily addressed.

The complaint refers to 2021 guidance issued by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR), which confirmed banks’ responsibilities regarding the impacts of companies in which they hold shares on behalf of clients. The UN OHCHR’s guidance was sought in relation to a previous NCP complaint filed by Society for Threatened Peoples against UBS Group.

The complaint is filed under both the 2011 and 2023 versions of the OECD Guidelines in relation to the banks’ operations both prior to and continuing after the update of the text in June 2023.

Relevant OECD Guidelines

Outcome

2 May 2025: OECD Watch is deeply concerned about persistent delays during the complaint handling process at the UK NCP. In the complaints against HSBC and Barclays, the complainants have experienced delays on the part of the NCP during the handling of their complaints. The complaints were filed on 16 January 2024, but as at 2 May 2025 (over 1 year and 4 months later) the UK NCP has not published its initial assessment, despite the NCP’s  own procedures stipulating the indicative timeframe for the initial assessment as three months. The 2023 OECD Guidelines emphasise the importance of NCPs sticking to the indicative timeframes set out in the Guidelines and provides that while the indicative timeframe “may need to be extended if circumstances warrant”, NCPs should nevertheless keep the parties informed in a timely manner of the expected delays. The pattern of delays at the UK NCP has hindered the predictability of proceedings in these complaints (and also in other complaints filed by civil society organisations), one of the core NCP effectiveness criteria, and impedes the NCP’s ability to fulfill its responsibility stipulated in the Guidelines to contribute to the resolution of issues arising in relation to the Guidelines in an efficient and timely manner. OECD Watch urges the UK government and UK Steering Board to take immediate action to address the underlying causes of the delays, including by making available human and financial resources to the NCP so that it can effectively fulfil its responsibilities in a way that fully meets the effectiveness criteria described in the Guidelines.

More details

Defendant
Company in violation
Other companies involved
Complainants
Affected people
Other NCP's where the complaint was filed

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