Refinitiv Adds Sigwatch’s ESG and NGO Data to Due Diligence Reports
Financial market data provider Refinitiv announced today that it is adding data from Sigwatch to its Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) reports, including ESG and NGO issue tracking and related reputational impact data.
Refinitiv’s EDD provides detailed background checks on companies and investors that require a higher level of scrutiny, supporting compliance teams in meeting regulatory obligations, protecting company reputation, and optimizing the due diligence process.
Sigwatch is an information provider, with a global network of researchers in both developed and developing economies, monitoring how environmental, human and animal rights and consumer related NGOs are driving current and emerging issues.
Refinitiv stated that the collaboration with Sigwatch will enable it to offer insight into NGO campaigns affecting more than 19,000 companies, brands and projects, plus details on more than 80,000 campaign actions and up to 40 new campaigns reported daily.
Charles Minutella, head of Refinitiv’s Enhanced Due Diligence business, said:
“Data is at the heart of what we do at Refinitiv and that’s why I’m very excited about our content partnership with Sigwatch. This alternative dataset will provide our customers with unique “on the ground” insight, with a focus on critical ESG factors that have become increasingly significant in the decision to conduct business with a company.”
Emphasizing the relevance of Sigwatch data to the due diligence process, the company highlighted recent NGO activity relating to company actions and reputation. According to Sigwatch there have been almost 11,000 ESG-related NGO actions since January 2019, nearly 1,300 of these have been against the financial services sector.
Robert Blood, Managing Director at Sigwatch, said:
“Sigwatch offers businesses valuable insights into where NGOs are applying their campaigning resources and we are looking forward to offering this insight through Refinitiv’s extensive customer base. NGO groups are ‘early adopters’ of issues and knowing what they are worrying and talking about helps business understand the problems that might confront them or their sector today, and in the months and years ahead.”
Refinitiv stated that it will feature data from Sigwatch in all three categories of EDD reports that it offers to customers, with the level of data included varying based on the customer’s choice of Refinitiv’s Lite, Standard or Premium EDD report. The Premium report will feature the full range of Sigwatch data, including the trends and top issues affecting the industry of the company under review, a summary table featuring the number of criticisms of the company in the last 12 months, the number of praises and the total number of NGO actions. The Premium report will also include charts on the top issues affecting the company, the top NGO criticisms, as well as a detailed elaboration of the five most recent NGO criticisms of the company.