Reply To: Hong Kong Disneyland shark fin soup controversy

#8518

Following public pressure, Citibank has "stopped all credit card promotions related to shark fin" in Asia Pacific.  It first halted only the meal promotions in Hong Kong, allowing similar ones in Singapore to continue, in contravention of its own positions on corporate social and environmental responsibility. (The bank cried that 'no one in Singapore had complained.'  Presumably they didn't ask the sharks.)

But after the anomaly was pointed out in the letters pages of the SCMP, including by Eric Bohm, chief executive of WWF, as well as by the New York Times, the bank's 'no shark's fin' policy was extended to all of Asia.  (The promotions also featured other endangered species such as South African abalone and blue fin tuna.)

So, two cheers for Citibank, who finally came round to the good side, after some severe prodding.

(For original refs, see SCMP letters on 28 July and 2 Aug 2010, and the bank's own letter announcing the change on 3 Aug.)