CORRECTION APPENDED

Harvard’s indirect investments in three oil firms accused of helping to finance the Darfur genocide remain in the millions, according to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

But while the University says its policy on divestment does not apply to these indirect holdings, Harvard has taken steps that suggest it may be reevaluating that policy.

Harvard has publicly announced its direct divestment from two Chinese oil companies, PetroChina and Sinopec. But as of December 31, 2006—the date of Harvard’s most recent filing—the University maintained indirect holdings worth $13.4 million in these companies as well as Petronas, a Malaysian oil firm linked to Sudan, through its investment in funds managed by the British bank Barclays.

The University has previously declined to comment on the issue of its indirect investments in Sudan, but University spokesman John D. Longbrake said yesterday that the holdings don’t fall under the school’s divestment policy.

Harvard’s policy “does not extend to investment vehicles over which the University does not exercise direct control over composition and investment decisions,” Longbrake said.

Longbrake said the Corporation Committee on Shareholder Responsibility, the body responsible for determining ethical standards on Harvard’s investments, has asked the Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility (ACSR) to weigh in on the issue. The ACSR is composed of faculty, students, and alumni.

Longbrake said that the ACSR has formed a subcommittee to investigate the indirect investments further.

Matthew R. Greenfield ’08, the lone undergraduate representative on the ACSR, said he is “extremely pleased with the apparent willingness to continue this important conversation.”

Sabine J. Ronc ’07, the president of the Harvard Darfur Action Group said the University’s progress in divesting has been too slow. [SEE CORRECTION BELOW]

“The reason why Harvard keeps running into these morally sticky situations is that the University does not have a broad set of ethical investment guidelines,” she said.

Harvard has apparently sold nearly a third of its shares in the Barclays fund, though it appears the University still holds $3.5 million in PetroChina stock and $2.3 million in Sinopec stock through the fund.

Harvard’s holdings in Barclays’ iSHARES FTSE/Xinhua China 25 fund—which also invests in the two Chinese companies—increased over the last quarter by 10 percent, resulting in another $5.2 million in PetroChina stock and $2.3 million in Sinopec for the University.

The recent filing also reveals $90,000 in indirect holdings through Barclays’ iShares MSCI Malaysia Index fund in Petronas, a Malaysian company. Petronas, along with PetroChina and Sinopec, is part of a consortium known as Petrodar, which has invested over $1 billion in the Sudanese oil industry.

Two other holdings previously reported on by The Crimson appear to have been sold off completely.

The filing shows no current ownership of either Morgan Stanley’s or the Blackstone Group’s funds that invest in Indian companies. Harvard’s previous investment in these two funds had represented an approximately $320,000 investment in Bharat, another firm that invests in Sudanese energy.

The University announced its divestment from PetroChina in April 2005. Nearly a year later, Harvard issued another statement, announcing the decision to divest from Sinopec—also know as the China Petroleum & Chemical Corp.—given “deep concerns about the grievous crisis that persists in the Darfur region of Sudan.”

The Crimson reported in January that Harvard’s holdings in these two companies still totalled $16 million, according to the financial data from the third quarter of last year.

—Staff writer Nathan C. Strauss can be reached at strauss@fas.harvard.edu.

CORRECTION
In the Feb.13 news article "Holdings Still Tied to Sudan," Sabine J. Ronc '07 was incorrectly identified as the president of the Harvard Darfur Action Group. In fact, Sabine was one of the group's founding members and its first president, but she no longer occupies the post.