Anti-trafficking group Liberty Shared has accused the company of wrongful disclosures in its 2019 Sustainability Report.

“As a responsible corporate citizen listed on the Malaysian bourse, Sime Darby Plantations will cooperate fully with the Securities Commission,” the palm oil giant said in a statement.

Last month, the commission told news agency Reuters that it had received a complaint, but declined to share additional details of the matter as it was still under review.

SDP said it has also begun legal action this week in the US against Liberty Shared managing director Duncan Jepson in order to obtain information pertaining to the complaint the NGO filed with the commission.

“This is the first time in SDP’s 200-year history that we have resorted to taking legal action against an NGO,” the company said, and that gleaning information about the complaint was of great importance.

“It saddens us greatly that despite several direct and indirect engagements, Jepson continues to withhold vital information that could have helped the very workers he claims to champion,” SDP said.

The company added that it had, on Jepsen’s request, appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Singapore in October 2020 to share information necessary to address the alleged issues, but that neither PwC or Jensen have yet provided them with the information requested.

In December, the US Customs placed a “withhold release order” on the company’s products after Liberty Shared petitioned the US Customs and Border Protection to ban Sime Darby products, citing evidence of labour abuses.