In November 2021, after a short and sharp public backlash, the Bank of New York Mellon (BNYM) became the 104th company to cut ties with Adani’s disastrous Carmichael coal project. For many years, BNYM was playing a specialised role as the security trustee for the debt linked to Adani’s coal port – North Queensland Export Terminal (NQXT, rebranded from Adani Abbot Point Terminal in 2020).
A security trustee plays an important role in the administration of debt. It has the ability to take control of assets on behalf of creditors if the debt is in default. We know that Adani is looking to refinance some of the debt linked to its Australian coal port, and the appointment of a security trustee could be critical for that to happen.
With BNYM on its way out, Market Forces reached out to the companies that could replace it. Several replied, with Perpetual, Metrics, AMAL and SILC Group ruling themselves out entirely, and others, including Equity Trustees and MSC Group, going on the record to say they have no current involvement (but refusing to rule out future participation). GLAS did not respond.
With these major competitors staying away, GLAS has become the number one suspect as BNYM’s replacement.
Fill out the form to let GLAS know that any association with Adani’s climate-wrecking coal project will shatter its reputation.
The Adani Carmichael project is arguably the most environmentally and socially contentious project in Australia’s history. It does not have the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent of the Traditional Owners, who continue to oppose it. It would drain the region of tens of billions of litres of water per year, putting agriculture in the region at risk. It is increasing industrialisation in the already distressed Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. Most significantly, it would produce enough coal over its lifetime to emit 4.6 billion tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, equivalent to over eight years of Australia’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, fuelling more—or more intense—bushfires, cyclones, floods, and heatwaves.
NQXT has had some difficulty refinancing its debt, with a bond issue planned for early 2020 cancelled and the company having to repay A$270 million that year out of its own pocket. Adani’s NQXT needs to refinance another US$500 million worth of debt this year. Every dollar it spends paying back debt is a dollar it can’t spend on its disastrous coal mine.
Take action: Ask GLAS to commit to no further work for Adani’s Carmichael coal mine, rail line or NQXT port.