Monday, November 26, 2007

HI Superferry: About the Bondholder ABN-Amro Bank‏

They have a strong position in the Netherlands (home country) and Latin America (Brazil), and presence elsewhere (including Midwest U.S.).

From their web page:

"ABN AMRO was created by the merger between ABN Bank and Amro Bank on 22 September 1991 in Amsterdam. The date of incorporation of ABN AMRO is 29 March 1824 in the Hague. On that day Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij (Netherlands Trading Society, NTS) was established by Royal Decree of King Willem I. With effect from 3 October 1964 after the merger with Twentsche Bank, NTS changed her name to Algemene Bank Nederland (ABN Bank). After the merger with Amro Bank in 1991, ABN changed its name to ABN AMRO."

"ABN AMRO is a prominent international bank, our history going back to 1824. ABN AMRO ranks eighth in Europe and 12th in the world based on total assets, with more than 4,000 branches in 53 countries, a staff of more than 99,000 full-time equivalents and total assets of EUR 1,120.1 bln (as at 1 November 2007)."

"ABN AMRO, 1991-present - Global clients, 1992-present...The growing network of investment banks paved the way in 1996 for the joint venture with prestigious merchant bank N.M. Rothschild & Sons, London. The move allowed ABN AMRO to profit from Rothschild's strong position in international privatisations and boosted ABN AMRO's share of the stock issue market."

"ABN AMRO believes that the concept of sustainable development is based on creating long-term value for our shareholders, clients, employees and suppliers; contributing to society and the environment; and being engaged with and transparent about what we stand for."

"Here, and in ABN AMRO's Group-wide Sustainability Report, we aim to provide this transparency."

"Our Approach - Read about what sustainable development means to ABN AMRO, how it's organised throughout the company and how we report on it. Find out how you can give us feedback."

Here are some useful links to areas of their web page:
http://www.abnamro.com/com/about/about.jsp

ABN AMRO does look to protect their assets when they know about it:
http://www.abnamro.com/com/about/sd/sd_assets.jsp

In their "Sustainability Report," I refer you to pages 9 and 15 regarding the top 6 Focus Areas:
http://www.abnamro.com/com/about/sr2006en.htm

Regarding their Corporate Clients of which HI Superferry would be one:
http://www.corporates.abnamro.com/corporates/index.jsp

They even provide a means for stakeholder feedback from anywhere in the world:
http://www.abnamro.com/com/about/sd/sd_feedback.jsp
http://www.abnamro.com/com/contact/contact_general.jsp

I wonder if these bondholders know about the wave problem risks to the Superferry in Kahului and Kawaihae Harbors as documented by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.

You know, these people have the resources to bring the Solar Ferry here from Australia, instead of the Superferry. And these people have a lot of wind power in their home country.

We want big wind and solar projects here, not little dinky ones. These guys can make it happen. I know some of you want energy sovereignty, but I'm just throwing it out there.

Aloha, Brad

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