Vale, SpaceX and Israeli companies take centre stage in exclusions news in Q3 2026

• Vale has been removed from five exclusion lists, whilst SpaceX has been added to four
• Israeli companies have recorded a further 10 exclusions against a backdrop of a slight fall in the total number of exclusions

Covalence, a Geneva-based ESG rating agency, has just updated its Norms-based exclusions monitor for the third quarter of 2026. This tool aggregates 63 exclusion lists published by asset owners and asset managers worldwide, as well as by the United Nations. It tracks companies named in these lists for conduct-based reasons.

Vale vs SpaceX

Let us first consider the main changes in the breakdown of exclusions by company: as of 30 September 2026, Vale SA had five fewer exclusions, falling from 34 to 29 exclusion lists. That said, the Brazilian mining company still features in the top 10 most-excluded companies.

The institutions that have recently removed Vale from their exclusion lists are: KBC Group (Insurance, Belgium), Pensioenfonds PGB (pension fund, Netherlands), Pensioenfonds PNO Media (pension fund, Netherlands), Pensioenfonds Rail & Openbaar Vervoer (pension fund, Netherlands), and Algebris Investments (asset manager, United Kingdom). For four of these five institutions, the reason previously given for excluding Vale was: breach of the UN Global Compact.

Another notable change at company level: SpaceX has been added to four further exclusion lists and now features on seven exclusion lists (compared with three at the end of the second quarter of 2026).

The institutions that have recently added SpaceX to their exclusion lists are: Industriens Pension (pension fund, Denmark), Nordea (asset manager, Finland), Pensionskassernes Administration (PKA) (pension fund, Denmark), and Velliv (pension fund, Denmark). The reasons given for these exclusions are: governance issues, standards, and special circumstances. See also our Q2 update.

In the coming quarter, it will be interesting to see whether other institutions add SpaceX to their list of normative exclusions, or whether a peak has been reached.

Growing pressure on Israeli companies

Furthermore, an analysis of recent data by the country of origin of the excluded companies reveals an interesting finding: Israeli companies recorded 10 additional exclusions compared with the second quarter, rising from 526 to 536 exclusions. This is the country with the sharpest increase in the third quarter, whilst overall the number of exclusions fell slightly (7,308 in the third quarter compared with 7,469 in the second quarter). To ensure comparability, these results have been calculated without taking into account the list published by the United Nations (Database of Business Enterprises Pursuant to Human Rights Council Resolutions 31/36 and 53/25).

The Israeli companies most frequently excluded are: Elbit Systems Ltd (featured in 26 of the 63 lists monitored), Bank Hapoalim BM (26), Bank Leumi Le Israel BM (25), Mizrahi Tefahot Bank Ltd (24) and Israel Discount Bank Ltd (22).

The industries most heavily affected by the exclusions targeting Israeli companies are: Diversified Banks, Construction & Engineering, Real Estate Operating Companies, Oil & Gas Exploration & Production and Aerospace & Defense.

The reasons most frequently cited to justify the exclusion of Israeli companies are: Human rights, Israel/Palestine, Poor ESG Practice, Norms, Human Rights and International Law, Insufficiently good corporate governance, and Risk of human rights violation in war and conflict.

Looking at the countries hosting the institutions that publish normative exclusion lists naming Israeli companies, Denmark is by far the leader with 331 exclusions (59 per cent of the total), followed by Norway (79.14 per cent), the Netherlands (49.9 per cent) and New Zealand (38.7 per cent). Finally, it should be noted that in Switzerland, the Swiss Association for Responsible Investment (ASIR), which brings together major pension funds and insurance companies, has added three Israeli companies to its public list of normative exclusions (see Le conflit israélo-palestinien fait bouger des caisses de pension suisses, 24 Heures, 4 October 2026).