Companies must not "infringe on the rights of others" says John Ruggie, UN Special Representative for business and human rights. He wants all corporations to develop procedures to reduce the negative impact of their activities on human rights. Only then can they claim to respect human rights as it their responsibility.

Therefore we ask Credit Suisse and UBS to take the following steps:

• Write a comprehensive human rights policy that helps the banks become responsible guardians of human rights in all business aspects. This includes a prior assessment of how planned business activities will impact human rights.
   
• Flesh out this policy with the help of detailed standards. Develop sector guidelines or fundmentally rework existing standards at least for all those industries where human rights violations are endemic (e.g. mining, oil, agroindustry). These standards must have an explicit human rights focus and must avoid generic and indiscriminate chatter about social risks.
   
• Publish policy and standards! Because neither bank today discloses its sector guidelines and internal standards the public is condemned to trust them blindly. Human rights standards are not sensitive with regard to the success of a business and there is no reason to assume that their publication would put the banks at a competitive disadvantage. Instead, the banks would invite a discussion about the selection and effectiveness of their standards.
   
• Implementation by means of a serious and professional assessment of transactions with regard to their human rights impact. Properly placed incentives and a bonus system that does not work against a serious implementation of human rights standards. In order for Credit Suisse and UBS to live up to their obligation to actively respect human rights they need to make sure that they hear the voices of the victims of human rights violations and take them seriously.