A U.K. news story playing out over the last several months has put a different spin on the role of corporations in public policy debates. This case is particularly unusual because the business is the one doing the protesting and withdrawing its patronage.

The business is the Co-operative Bank, and the group is Christian Voice, an evangelical Christian group. The bank has asked the group to close its account because of its anti-homosexual views, saying that the group's opinions were incompatible with the bank's support for diversity. According to a statement from the bank, it asked Christian Voice to close its account "on the basis of the hateful and offensive statements they peddle, and their aim of stigmatizing people who are homosexual."

Co-op Bank is unusual in that it looks to its customers to shape its ethics policies. The bank set out in 1992 to create an "Ethical Policy" that would determine precisely what ethical standards would govern "the types of businesses the bank would and would not offer services to."  In developing the policy, the bank "chose to base its Ethical Policy on the concerns of its customers, on the basis that it is generally their money that is being used, and they should have a say in how it is used." 

According to the bank, the impact of ethics on its profitability has been significant, attributing 34 per cent of the bank’s 2004 profits to its ethical and sustainability policies.

While the bank’s stance attracts customers, analysis also shows that it loses them as well. In the past, the bank has refused to provide banking services to companies on grounds related to ecology and environment, animal welfare, human rights and labor practices.

Director of Corporate Affairs Simon Williams said: “Our customers expect us to rigorously police our ethical stance and so we not only look into the activities of a would-be customer but also the supply chains in which they are involved. For instance, we investigate a company to see if it is concerned directly in the extraction or production of fossil fuels, and also whether they supply products and services of strategic importance to such areas.”

Simon continued, “Despite this increased scrutiny, the bank’s corporate business goes from strength to strength with a growing number of business customers coming to the bank because of our ethical positioning.

“When we launched our ethical stance back in 1992 its initial appeal was very much to individual customers who wanted to know what happened to their money whilst it was in the bank. Now, 13 years on, 36 per cent of personal customers and a quarter of the bank’s corporate customers join us precisely because we are prepared to turn away certain sorts of business.”