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B. G., Opalesque Geneva:

Carl Icahn, who is a shareholder of McDonald's Corporation, filed a definitive proxy statement and issued an open letter to shareholders last week, saying McDonald's' Board of Directors was failing shareholders and stakeholders by presiding over animal welfare violations, supply chain lapses and "what I perceive to be a hollow environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda."

"I want to shine a light on what may be the biggest hypocrisy of our time," he writes, "a large number of Wall Street firms and their bankers and lawyers appear to be capitalizing on ESG to drive profits without doing nearly enough to support tangible societal progress. These players seem to be engaged in a cover-up to downplay their ESG-related economic incentives and promote their purported social impact. Clearly, the ESG status quo on Wall Street needs to change."

The ESG movement is to be more than a marketing concept and fundraising tool, he continues. The massive asset managers who are among McDonald's' largest owners must back up their words with actions.

McDonald's top three shareholders are The Vanguard Group, the asset management arm of State Street, and BlackRock, according to FactSet. Icahn holds about 200 shares in McDonald's. The stake would be worth about $50,000, ......................

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