British MEP wants EU 'social stock exchange' in UK
By Jacqui Street
British MEP and chair of the European Parliament's Econ committee Sharon Bowles wants London to be the home of a European stock exchange for companies that aim to fix social problems.
Bowles has met Nobel Peace Prize Winner Mohammad Yunus in Strasbourg to discuss social business, or enterprises that make a social impact but no loss or dividend.
Yunus believes the current capitalist stock markets do not cater for "the selfless dimensions of the people."
He wants a market to trade shares of social businesses. "An investor will come to this stock-exchange in order to find a social business, which has a mission to his or her liking, just as someone who wants to make money goes to the existing stock-market," says Yunus.
Yunus says the social stock market would need social ratings agencies, terminologies and reporting formats similar to capitalist markets.
Bowles says Europe is an obvious place for a social stock exchange and London could be the social stock centre. But she admits: "That could only happen if UK involvement in the project took-off."
European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said after meeting Yunus on Wednesday that strengthening social business "is a concrete way to help the poorest of the poor."
Bowles says she hopes to attend an international conference on social business in Austria in November.
Source: http://www.gfsnews.com/article/2334/1/MEP_wants_EU__social_stock_exchange__in_UK/&print=1
