Investing in PetroChina only encourages human rights abuses while at the same time exposing investors to significant risks which they will have few protections against. The report, which was sent this morning to the top 100 investment management firms involved in emerging market IPOs, documents the significant financial risks posed by the company's governance structure, ethical issues surrounding PetroChina's human rights abuses in Sudan and Tibet, and the expected layoffs of one million workers in China. Investing in PetroChina only encourages human rights abuses while at the same time exposing investors to significant risks which they will have few protections against. As a state-owned enterprise, CNPC is controlled by the Chinese government. As a result the majority shareholder, the Chinese government, will be able to control all matters requiring shareholder approval.
Shareholders have only limited legal protection in China.
So far, all of PetroChina's executive officers and the majority of directors and shareholders live in China and Hong Kong. As a result, outside investors may not be able to enforce legal judgments against the company or its officers including judgments relating to the securities laws of the United States and other countries. PetroChina is associated with forced labor. PetroChina's parent company, CNPC, which is involved in a joint venture with the Sudanese national oil company and Canada's Talisman oil company, has been widely associated with the use of forced labor and displacement of villagers living near the joint venture's operations. Environmental and human rights threats in Tibet.