PartyGaming Added to Prestigious FTSE4Good UK 50 Index

Fifteen UK companies, including online gambling firm PartyGaming, have been added to the FTSE4Good UK 50 Index of companies striving for good corporate governance.

"We are delighted to be recognized for our continual efforts to set and raise the online gaming industry's standards for corporate and social responsibility," Martin Weingold of PartyGaming said in a statement.

"This news flies against all the accusations by politicians over the years about "irresponsible gaming companies," John Shepherd, Director of Corporate Communications, told Gambling911.com.

The FTSE4Good share index was launched in July 2001 by FTSE, the leading global index providers. Its aim is that of measuring the performance of companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards, and to facilitate investment in those companies, according to Nic Cicutti of MSN Money in the UK.

FTSE4Good aims to set an objective global standard for socially responsible investment and is one of the benchmarks to consider when comparing ethical funds against an index of its peers.

FTSE4Good is typically used in four ways:

Investment - a basis for socially responsible financial instruments and fund products

Research - a research tool to identify socially responsible companies

Reference - a reference tool to provide companies with a transparent and evolving global corporate responsibility standard to aspire to and surpass

Benchmarking - a benchmark index to track the performance of socially responsible investment portfolios.

The FTSE4Good selection criteria cover three key areas:

Working towards environmental sustainability

Developing positive relationships with stakeholders

Upholding and supporting universal human rights.

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Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com