Response to Freedom of Information Request
Posted on 09/05/05 by admin
A request was sent to Oriel by e-mail on 16th February requesting the following information under the Freedom of Information Act:(i) A brief explanation of the various funds and pools within which your college holds investment funds and other ways in which the college owns portions of companies.
(ii) A list of all the companies that the college holds shares in and how many shares are held in each, whether directly or indirectly. And if indirectly, through which fund manager or other means. Understanding that shares held indirectly fluctuate frequently, simply the latest information on this will be fine.
(iii) What, if any, standards of ethical, social or environmental responsibility does the college exercise in its investments?
The response from Oriel College is shown below:
4th March 2005
[snip]
In light of representations from the Student body at Oriel, the College now operates a socially responsible investment policy, checking our investments against standard criteria put to us by a student representative. We have adjusted our shareholdings in light of this, and this has resulted in the replacement of some shareholdings. In two cases, we are seeking further information.
Beyond that, it is my view that you are not entitled to any information about the College’s investments holdings, save as can be obtained from our published accounts. I believe that such information is exempt under Section 43 (2) of the Act on the ground that disclosure would be likely, to prejudice our commercial interests. Moreover, beyond what I have said above about our policy, information concerning the specific shares which the College holds is not a matter of public interest.
I hope, none the less that the above provides the main information you require.