Church of England Loses Faith in Shares of Murdoch’s News Corp

Source: Reuters

Church of England loses faith in shares of Murdoch’s News Corp

By Reuters Staff AUGUST 7, 2012

The Church of England has sold all shares in News Corporation held in its investment portfolios on ethical grounds, after a phone hacking scandal at the media empire’s UK operations.

The Church, which has three national investing bodies, sold the shares worth 1.9 million pounds ($2.97 million) after its Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG) was not satisfied with the level of corporate governance reform at Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate following a year of dialogue.

“Last year’s phone hacking allegations raised some serious concerns amongst the Church’s investing bodies about our holding in News Corporation,” Andrew Brown, Secretary of the Church Commissioners said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The EIAG put forward a number of recommendations around how corporate governance structures at News Corporation could be improved. However the EIAG does not feel that the company has brought about sufficient change and we have accepted its advice to disinvest.”

Read more: http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2012/08/07/church-of-england-loses-faith-in-shares-of-murdochs-news-corp