Church of England pulls News Corp investment over phone hacking scandal

The Church of England has pulled its £1.9m investment from Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation in a protest over its handling of the News of the World phone hacking scandal.
The investment is relatively small in the context of News Corp's $57.49bn market capitalisation, but it will comes as a significant blow to the media group's standing as an investment vehicle.
The Church Commissioners and the Church of England Pensions Board, who together hold more than £8bn of assets, sold all their shares, after the Church's Ethical Investment Advisory Group raised "serious concerns" about their holding in the firm.
In a statement, the Church said the advisory group had not taken the decision "lightly" but that News Corp's board had done too little to strengthen corporate governance.
"Our decision to disinvest was not one taken lightly and follows a year of continuous dialogue with the company, during which the EIAG put forward a number of recommendations around how corporate governance structures at News Corporation could be improved," said Andrew Brown, Secretary of the Church Commissioners. "However the EIAG does not feel that the company has brought about sufficient change and we have accepted its advice to disinvest."
The Church of England, which has a policy of withholding its investments from companies involved in activities such as pornography and gambling, first wrote to Mr Murdoch about its concerns in July last year.
Its decision to cut ties with the media group comes amid growing concern that News Corp's existing corporate governance structures leave the company exposed.
Many shareholders object to Rupert Murdoch's dual position as chairman and chief executive of the media giant, as well as the heavy presence of Murdoch loyalists on its board. They are also angered by its dual-class share structure, which hands those with top-tier B-class shares, including the Murdochs, a disproportionate amount of voting power.
Mr Murdoch already faces a showdown with investors over these issues at News Corp's annual general meeting on October 21.
A group of 18 heavyweight investors, who together control more than £1 trillion of assets and hold some 13.4m Class A shares in the blighted group, have signalled their intention to oust him as chairman.
The investors, who include Legal & General Investment Management, the Co-Operative Asset Management and Aviva, have written to Mr Murdoch, declaring their intention to back a motion filed by the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) in the UK and Christian Brothers Investment Services (CBIS) calling for a new, independent chairman.
The change is needed to help address the "lax ethical culture and lack of effective board oversight" exposed by News Corp's "still emerging scandals", they said.