Norway wealth fund drops G4S Plc over Qatar migrant-worker abuse

The alleged abuses of migrant-worker rights in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have forced Norway’s sovereign-wealth fund to drop U.K. security firm G4S Plc from its portfolio. As much as 3.7% shares in G4S dropped in London trading. The fund held a 2.33% stake (valued at around $91 million) in G4S at the end of 2018. The investor currently has 156 companies on its exclusion list.

Read: Norway Fund Blacklists Security Firm G4S Over Rights Worries

According to a statement on Thursday, the central bank in Oslo which manages the $1.1 trillion fund, said it took the step “due to unacceptable risk that the company contributes to or is responsible for serious or systematic human rights violations."

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Norway’s Council of Ethics alleged human rights violations by G4S

Norway’s Council of Ethics in its recommendation said that it had assessed the company’s operations in the two Gulf countries and the exclusion was reportedly based on that. The council report showed that migrant workers have paid recruitment fees to be able to work for G4S, and a substantial part of their salaries was spent to pay debt related to those fees. Also, many were paid less than agreed. Moreover, the council said that In the Emirates, workers saw their passports confiscated. The findings also mentioned that the workers were exposed to long days, a lack of compensation for working overtime and instances of harassment. 

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About Norway's sovereign wealth fund

G4S is the only company listed on either American or western European stock markets to be blacklisted by the council for human rights violations. Norway’s wealth fund manages the $1.1 trillion fund. It is deemed the world’s biggest of its kind, is managed according to a set of ethical principles. They are barred from investing in tobacco and certain kinds of weapons, and in companies responsible for serious environmental damage or human rights abuses. 

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