Bookings Holdings (formerly Priceline Group) | Business Operations in Illegal Settlements at Bookings Holdings (formerly Priceline Group)

Status
Filed
AGM date
Previous AGM date
Proposal number
6
Resolution details
Company ticker
BKNG
Lead filer
Ekô
Resolution ask
Report on or disclose
ESG theme
  • Social
ESG sub-theme
  • Human rights
Filer type
Shareholder
Company sector
Consumer Discretionary
Company HQ country
United States
Resolved clause
Shareholders request that the Board of Directors prepare and disclose, at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information, a report describing the Board’s role in overseeing human rights-related risks associated with the Company’s operations, relationships, or activities connected to Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including how the Board identifies, assesses, and responds to such risks and any gaps the Board has identified in its oversight framework.
Supporting statement
Booking Holdings Inc. (the "Company") lists accommodations and services in Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including East Jerusalem. Issues of human rights violations and the illegality of such operations present material financial, operational, and reputational risks to the Company. International consensus (UNSC Resolution 2334) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) affirm these settlements violate international law.[1] The ICJ’s July 2024 Advisory Opinion specifically obligated states and organizations not to recognize their legality[2]. These operations have prompted criminal complaints filed in the Netherlands against Booking.com B.V., alleging profits constitute "proceeds of crime" resulting from war crimes. This legal jeopardy is highly material: Dutch law allows maximum penalties for serious financial violations up to 20% of the previous fiscal year's net revenue.[3] Even without a conviction, multi-year legal defense, compliance remediation, and potential fines entail significant costs to the Company. Related employee petitions and public campaigns pose risks and costs to the Company, while competitors, such as Airbnb, have acknowledged the business and reputational risks related to this issue and have committed to take "no profits" from settlements.[4] The Company has previously assessed the risks associated with actively contested territory and responded with a legally and diplomatically well-considered approach in Russia and Ukraine, including suspending the booking of travel services in Russia and Belarus, allowing customers to cancel reservations in Ukraine at no cost, and waiving partner fees for short-term refugee stays.[5] Operations sustaining Human Rights and International Law violations contradict UN Guiding Principles; which are espoused explicitly in the Company’s (Supplier) Code of Conduct and its Human Rights statement. (1)Resolution 2334 (2016) /(2)Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024 | INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE(3)https://deroosenpen.nl/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/AML22_Chapter-26-%E2%80%93-Netherlands-1.pdf (4)https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/airbnb-share-listing-company-deeply-compromised-israeli-settlement-properties(5)https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1075531/000107553123000016/bkng-20221231.htm https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/booking-holdings-response/

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