"Credit Agricole is the largest European investor in global arms companies involved in Yemen crisis."

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Arms traded by the top 25 companies totaled EUR300bn in 2019 - 8.5% more than in 2018¹. Yet irresponsible arms transfer and controversial exportation directly impact the life of civil populations in conflict regions^2;p8. The Yemen humanitarian crisis is directly fueled by arms trade^2;p8. It led to 233,000 deaths since 2015⁴, 80% of the population in need of assistance, and the threat of a large-scale famine³.

Crédit Agricole (CA) is the first asset manager in Europe⁶ and the 3^rd bank in Europe by assets (€1.884bn in 2020)^9,10. The French group has 52M clients through 52 countries^5;p42.

Despite CA’s restriction policies regarding the arms trade, it remains one of its biggest sponsors due to loopholes in regulations^2;p52. Their restrictions don’t apply to all their financial products, are too permissive, and fail to address controversial exports^7;p3. The Facing Finance report that studied the European funders in arms companies exposed CA as the largest investor (€3.2bn in bond or shareholdings) and the 3^rd provider of finance for those companies (€3.4bn)^2;p4.

In 2018, CA loaned an estimated €100M to a major British arms company (BAE)^2;p7. BAE then exported massively to countries including the Saudi-led coalition members despite evidence of war crimes on the Yemenis^2;p23. In 2018, CA financed Lockheed Martin with €1.2bn^2;p4. Its missiles have since been involved in a school bus attack in Yemen⁸. Lockheed exported arms, but also planes and helicopters to many conflict countries and is involved in the production of controversial weapons systems^2;p29-30. CA also invested €631M in Raytheon^2;p33, a major weapon supplier for the saudis^2;p33. Their actions in arms dealing led to further destabilizing a country already in crisis^2;p8-9.


Credit Agricole must take stronger exclusion policies regarding the arms trade or take extra assurance the companies they are dealing with are not involved in controversial practices.

Sources

• 1. https://www.sipri.org/media/press-release/2020/global-arms-industry-sales-top-25-companies-85-cent-big-players-active-global-south
• 2. https://www.facing-finance.org/files/2019/05/ff_dp7_ONLINE_v02.pdf
• 3. https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/yemen-crisis
• 4. https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/12/1078972#:~:text=UN%20Podcasts-,UN%20humanitarian%20office%20puts%20Yemen%20war%20dead,%2C%20mostly%20from%20'indirect%20causes'&text=Millions%20of%20children%20across%20Yemen,lack%20of%20basic%20health%20services.
• 5. https://www.dontbankonthebomb.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2018_Report_web.pdf
• 6. https://www.credit-agricole.com/en/group/discover-the-credit-agricole-group
• 7. https://www.credit-agricole.com/en/pdfPreview/122245
• 8. https://fpif.org/in-yemen-and-beyond-u-s-arms-manufacturers-are-abetting-crimes-against-humanity/
• 9. https://www.statista.com/statistics/383406/leading-europe-banks-by-total-assets/
• 10. https://www.businessinsider.com/largest-banks-europe-list?IR=T

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