SWITZERLAND NIXES BUSINESS LIABILITY FOR RIGHTS ABUSES ABROAD

A vote on whether Swiss companies like Nestlé and Glencore should face greater liability at home for human rights and environmental abuses committed abroad is set to fail after a divisive campaign, Julia Horowitz reported for CNN Business.

While provisional results from the government Sunday showed that more than 50% of voters approved of the Responsible Business Initiative, it did not garner support from the majority of cantons, or Swiss states. Both are necessary for a referendum in the country to pass.

The initiative split public opinion in Switzerland, a hub for consumer goods, finance and commodities trading. Supporters of the Responsible Business Initiative hung banners and signs from balconies and fences across the country. Swiss banks and other powerful businesses, meanwhile, took out expensive newspaper ads warning of dire consequences for the economy, ramping up their efforts in recent weeks.

"Accepting this initiative would prompt Swiss companies to move to other countries, leading to the loss of valuable jobs and taxable assets in Switzerland," Credit Suisse (CS) CEO Thomas Gottstein and other top executives at the bank warned a newspaper advertisement. The Responsible Business Initiative would have mandated that Swiss firms assess the human rights and environmental practices not just of their own operations, but also of subsidiaries, suppliers and business partners, ensuring they're in line with international standards. Companies could then have been held liable in Swiss courts for violations committed by subsidiaries and suppliers they control, unless management was able to prove proper due diligence had been carried out.