Protesters disrupt AGMs of BARC and STAN; shares remain neutral

The annual shareholder meetings of British financial giants Barclays (LON: BARC) and Standard Chartered (LON: STAN) on Wednesday saw a series of disruptions from climate activists who criticised them for investing in fossil fuels.

According to a report by The Independent, the activists belonging to Extinction Rebellion and its sister movement Money Rebellion disrupted the annual general meetings (AGM) of Barclays and Standard Chartered and demanded that they stop investing in fossil fuels. About 60 people interrupted the speeches at the two meetings, the report claimed.

Nigel Higgins, the group chairman of Barclays, was repeatedly interrupted by the protesters sitting in the audience during his address. Though he asked them to wait until the question-answer session, the protesters continued to interrupt, forcing him to halt the meeting, though security officials removed the protesters.

©2022 Kalkine Media®

What did the protesters say?

The protesters accused Barclays of 'greenwashing' or inflating its green credentials, with one of them reportedly saying that the bank has invested US$160 billion (£128 billion) into fossil fuel extraction.

They claimed that Barclays is the UK’s biggest investor in fossil fuels, adding that it invested £15.7 billion into the industry in 2021, while Standard Chartered’s investment in fossil fuels stands at £4.8 billion.

Impact on shares of Barclays and Standard Chartered

The disruption did not cause any significant impact on the share prices of either company. Barclays' shares were trading at GBX 151.52, up 0.34% at 2:56 pm GMT+1 on 4 May 2022. The shares opened at GBX 153.10 and reached an intraday high of GBX 153.50. The company's market cap currently stands at £24,841.29 million, and its shares have depreciated by 13.46% over the last one year.

On the other hand, Standard Chartered PLC's shares were trading at 572.40, up by 1.13% at 03:00 pm GMT+1 on 4 May 2022, with a market capitalisation of £16,477.44 million. The shares opened at GBX 570.40 and reached an intraday high of GBX 575.60.