Six major US banks were served with civil investigative demands for information related to Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) implementation.
Missouri Attorney General, Eric Schmitt, announced that his office and 18 other attorneys general have served six major American banks with civil investigative demands, which act as a subpoena, asking for documents relating to the companies’ involvement with the United Nations’ (UN) Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA).
The banks under investigation include Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo. NZBA-member banks must set emissions reduction targets in their lending and investment portfolios to reach net zero by 2050. Missouri, Arizona, Kentucky, and Texas are leadership states on this investigation.
“The Net-Zero Banking Alliance is a massive worldwide agreement by major banking institutions, overseen by the U.N., to starve companies engaged in fossil fuel-related activities of credit on national and international markets. Missouri farmers, oil leasing companies, and other businesses that are vital to Missouri’s and America’s economy will be unable to get a loan because of this alliance,” said Attorney General Schmitt. “We are leading a coalition investigating banks for ceding authority to the U.N., which will only result in the killing of American companies that don’t subscribe to the woke, climate agenda. These banks are accountable to American laws – we don’t let international bodies set the standards for our businesses.”
Missouri, Arizona, Kentucky and Texas are states taking the lead in the investigation. Other participating states include Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia and five other states who cannot be named due to confidentiality requirements.
ESG policies have been scrutinized recently by top policymakers across the country.
Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis proposed legislation which will be introduced during the 2023 legislative session, that would prohibit discriminatory practices by large financial institutions based on ESG social credit score metrics.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, launched a campaign last month against ESG policies that it says are being used by the left as a social credit score to force businesses and financial institutions to adopt progressive ideologies across the globe.
