Greenpeace activists disrupted a Credit Suisse shareholder meeting in Zurich Friday, unfurling a banner to protest the bank's alleged financing of the controversial Dakota Access pipeline in the United States.

About 30 minutes before Switzerland's second largest bank kicked off its annual general assembly, activists set up a fake pipeline, measuring around 10 metres (yards) and weighing more than 900 kilos (nearly 2,000 pounds), at the entrance of the building, the group said in a statement.

And just as Credit Suisse chief Tidjane Thiam was launching into his speech, other activists suddenly scaled down on ropes and unfurled a giant, yellow banner urging the bank to "Stop Dirty Pipeline Deals", an AFP journalist in the room said.

The banner, which blocked a screen detailing the bank's 2016 financial results, also carried the hashtags: #NoDAPL and #WaterIsLife.

Thiam wryly thanked the activists for their "interest" in his presentation, before asking them politely to remove the banner to allow the shareholders to see his presentation.

The environmental protection group was protesting against Credit Suisse's alleged financing of the Dakota Access Pipeline, part of which runs through lands inhabited by the indigenous groups.

"Credit Suisse shareholders should know the scandalous nature of the investments made in their name," Mathias Schlegel, spokesman for Greenpeace's Swiss chapter, insisted in the group's statement.

Following the protest, the bank's chairman Urs Rohner meanwhile told shareholders that "Credit Suisse has never financed any part of the Dakota Access Pipeline".

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and their backers say the Dakota pipeline threatens the Missouri River and the Lake Oahe reservoir, a key drinking water source.

They also worry about the impact on nearby sacred lands, and the Native Americans and their supporters camped out for the better part of last year, physically blocking construction at the site.

But in the first week of his presidency, Donald Trump signed executive orders to revive the Dakota Access project, along with a second pipeline put on hold by the Obama administration, Keystone XL. 

Greenpeace said Friday that Credit Suisse's internal directives blocked the bank from conducting business with partners whose activities impact the fundamental rights of indigenous groups.

"Greenpeace and the Sioux communities directly affected demand that Credit Suisse halts its support for the project and for the companies involved," the group said.

Source: AFP