Tag: ESG

Warned By Treasurer, 2 Banks Avoided List Of Restricted Institutions

Treasurer Riley Moore added HSBC, Citigroup, TD Bank and Northern Trust to its list of financial institutions barred from state contracts. BMO and Fifth Third were not added to the list.

West Virginia’s Treasurer added four banks to a list of restricted institutions this week, but two more were left off.

Treasurer Riley Moore added HSBC, Citigroup, TD Bank and Northern Trust to its list of financial institutions barred from state contracts.

They join five others that Moore determined were boycotting fossil fuel investments.

However, two more banks that received warning letters from Moore in February, BMO and Fifth Third, were not added to the list.

Both banks replied to Moore that they were not shunning such investments. Senate Bill 262, enacted two years ago, enabled the Treasurer to review banks’ environmental, social and governance, or ESG policies. 

Of the nine banks now on the list, six are among the top banks financing coal-burning utilities, according to the Sierra Club.

They are Goldman Sachs, Chase, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and TD. 

Other states, including Kentucky and Texas, have passed similar laws in opposition to ESG policies that are perceived to discourage fossil fuel investments.

BlackRock, another bank blacklisted from state contracts, is financing EQT, the biggest natural gas producer in the state and the biggest customer of the nearly finished Mountain Valley Pipeline. EQT announced last month it is buying the builder of the $7.5 billion pipeline, Equitrans Midstream.

State Treasurer Warns 6 Banks They May Be Added To ‘Restricted’ List

Treasurer Riley Moore has sent letters to six financial institutions warning them their environmental, social and governance policies could cost them state contracts.

West Virginia’s treasurer has warned a new set of banks they may be barred from engaging in contracts with the state.

Treasurer Riley Moore has sent letters to six financial institutions warning them their environmental, social and governance policies could cost them state contracts.

The restricted financial institutions list arose from Senate Bill 262, which became law in 2022.

Moore initially placed five banks on the list: BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo.

Kentucky enacted a similar law the same year, though the Kentucky treasurer’s office has different banks on its list.

Through a Freedom of Information Act Request, the banks that received the new letters are: BMO Bank, Citibank, Fifth Third, Northern Trust, TD Bank and HSBC.

They have 45 days to prove they are not engaged in a boycott of fossil fuel companies, or they will be added to the list.

A report last year from the Sierra Club showed that four of the five banks originally on the West Virginia Treasurer’s list – Goldman Sachs, Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo – are among the top providers of financing to utility companies that burn coal.

Citibank and TD Bank are also among the companies supporting coal-burning utilities.

Three of the banks on the combined list – Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo – are among the top six providers of financing to coal-burning utilities.

The three banks have committed to align their financing with the Paris Agreement and the Net Zero Banking Alliance yet have injected billions of dollars into coal-consuming utilities since 2016.

Those ‘Restricted’ Banks? They May Be Supporting Fossil Fuels After All

JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo are among the top six institutions worldwide to invest in companies that burn coal, according to the Sierra Club.

JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are on the state’s restricted financial institutions list. They got there because Treasurer Riley Moore determined last year that they are engaged in a boycott of fossil fuels.

A new report from the Sierra Club, however, shows all those institutions invest in electric utilities that are heavy users of coal.

JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo are among the top six institutions worldwide to invest in companies that burn coal.

British bank Barclays, which is not on the state’s restricted institutions list, is the largest investor in West Virginia’s top power companies, American Electric Power and FirstEnergy. Barclays is also the top financier of coal-burning utilities in the world, according to the report.

These and eight other power companies operate coal-burning power plants in 16 states.

The top six banks all made commitments to align their investments with the Paris Agreement yet have invested nearly $84 billion in coal-burning utilities since 2016, the report found. 

Jared Hunt, a Treasury spokesman, said the banks were placed on the list based on their publicly available policy statements.

Virtually all banks have set net-zero goals for carbon dioxide emissions and have made commitments to environmental, social and governance, or ESG standards.

Yet as the Sierra Club report shows, many of them continue to support fossil fuels.

House Bill Could Restrict State Investments If It Becomes Law

The House of Delegates debated a bill Wednesday that would essentially block the state board of investments from investing in companies that refuse to support fossil fuels. House Bill 2862 would ensure that all shareholder votes, by or on behalf of the West Virginia Investment Management Board and the Board of Treasury Investments, are cast according to the monetary interests of the beneficiaries.

The House of Delegates debated a bill Wednesday that would essentially block the state board of investments from investing in companies that refuse to support fossil fuels.

House Bill 2862 would ensure that all shareholder votes, by or on behalf of the West Virginia Investment Management Board and the Board of Treasury Investments, are cast according to the monetary interests of the beneficiaries.

Democrats, including Del. Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, argued against the bill saying its intent was to keep companies interested in ESG investments – meaning environmental, social and corporate governance considerations – from locating in West Virginia.

“These are green manufacturing jobs,” Hansen said. “We came into special session and passed that micro-grid bill that allows Precision Castparts and Berkshire Hathaway to come to the state of West Virginia. Precision Castparts is producing zero carbon parts for our aerospace industry. These are the jobs of the future. This is not some agenda to attack our coal industry. These are our future jobs.” 

Some Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the bill, including House Energy Chair Del. Bill Anderson, R-Wood, whose concern was more about how the restrictions placed on the investment boards could affect pensions.

“This debate has resulted in ESG. I quite frankly want the investment management board to have the flexibility they need to return the greatest amount of return to this state,” Anderson said. “Part of it is personal. I don’t want to have to raise taxes someday to meet these pension obligations, which we, by various court rulings, must meet … The budget implications for the future of this state, if we constrict them, I don’t think are positive. So I rise today to tell you that I intend to vote against this piece of legislation.”

Despite objections from both sides of the aisle and a nearly hour long debate, the bill passed 73 to 23 and now heads to the Senate for consideration.

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