FUND UPDATE: Benigo Bank gets the axe

As part of the monthly re-balance of the VanEck Vectors MSCI Australian Sustainable Equity ETF (ASX: GRNV), Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited (BEN) has been removed from the fund.

As part of the monthly re-balance of the VanEck Vectors MSCI Australian Sustainable Equity ETF (ASX: GRNV), Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited (BEN) has been removed from the fund.

GRNV tracks the MSCI Australia IMI Select SRI Screened Index. According to MSCI ESG Research, BEN no longer meets the minimum requirements for the controversy screen. BEN received an orange flag for the Social controversy screen related to Customer Relations.

In September 2019, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) sued BEN over alleged unreasonable loan terms to small businesses. ASIC cited that small businesses commonly get offered contracts on a "take it or leave it" basis for financial products and services and have limited or no opportunity for the businesses to negotiate the terms while the lenders have wide discretion to change terms without business owner consent to an extent where the loan can be flagged in default even if the business owner met all payment obligations. According to ASIC, BEN had 15,529 non-compliant loans.

Source: MSCI

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