West Virginia bars five financial firms for deemed fossil fuel 'boycotts'
Reuters
Published Jul 28, 2022 11:17AM ET
Updated Jul 28, 2022 02:18PM ET
By Pete Schroeder
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -West Virginia has barred five major financial institutions, including Blackrock Inc (N:BLK) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) , from new state business after determining that they were boycotting the fossil fuel industry.
Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) , Morgan Stanley (N:MS) and Wells Fargo & Co (N:WFC) are also barred on similar grounds, according to State Treasurer Riley Moore.
Spokespeople for Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley said the banks disagreed with the decision, and a spokesperson for JPMorgan called it "disconnected from the facts." A BlackRock spokesperson said it also disagreed with the decision.
"BlackRock does not boycott energy companies, and we do not pursue divestment from sectors and industries as a policy," the spokesperson said.
Goldman Sachs did not immediately comment.
The move to kick out some of the world's largest financial institutions, including the world's largest asset manager, Blackrock, comes as Republicans are ramping up pressure on Wall Street to step back from efforts to address climate change and tackle other social issues.
Reuters had previously reported that states led by Republicans are rapidly expanding their efforts to punish financial firms for "woke" stances on issues like fossil fuels and guns.
West Virginia is the first state to move to kick out Wall Street firms, although some other states, including Texas, have enacted similar laws.
Moore said the firms were barred after a review of their policies and public statements found them to have policies "categorically limiting commercial relations with energy companies engaged in certain coal mining." He is authorized to prohibit financial firms from new state banking business under a law the state passed earlier this year.
Six banks were initially identified by West Virginia as potential boycotters of the fossil fuel industry. All the firms responded and disputed the claim, while noting they are often criticized by climate activists for doing too little to fight climate change.
Get The News You Want
One of them, U.S. Bancorp , was taken off the list after the bank removed policies against financing coal production, according to Moore. A bank spokesperson said it was pleased to not be excluded from the state, but that its policies were in place prior to the passage of the new West Virginia law.
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.