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Church of England dumps News Corp. stock

LONDON, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- The Church of England sold its News Corp. shares, saying it feared the conglomerate didn't learn anything from the phone-hacking scandal at one of its tabloids.

The church said Tuesday in a statement it wasn't satisfied that News Corp. "had shown, or is likely in the immediate future to show, a commitment to implement necessary corporate governance reform," despite the church had voiced its concerns, The Guardian reported.

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The church first raised concerns about News of the World's "reprehensible and unethical" conduct and was trying to force News Corp. into improving its corporate governance.

The scandal, among other things, led to criminal charges against eight individuals, the formation of several investigative panels and the closure of the News of the World, a property of global media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

The church's investment bodies, the Church Commissioners and the Church of England Pensions Board, announced the sale of their nearly $3 million investment, which represent 0.005 percent of News Corp.'s total publicly traded stock.

"Last year's phone-hacking allegations raised some serious concerns amongst the church's investing bodies about our holding in News Corporation," Andrew Brown, secretary of the Church Commissioners, said. "Our decision to disinvest was not one taken lightly and follows a year of continuous dialogue with the company, during which the church's ethical investment advisory group put forward a number of recommendations around how corporate governance structures at News Corporation could be improved."

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