West Virginia is warning six financial institutions that they could be banned from doing business in the state because of their environmental-investing guidelines.
State treasurer Riley Moore, a Republican, alerted Citibank, HSBC, BMO Bank, and three additional financial institutions of their potential inclusion on the state’s Restricted Financial Institution List, Politico first reported. Moore’s office sent the warnings after an initial review of the institutions’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies and public statements.
“Our state actions over the past three years have exposed the ESG movement for the danger it is, and while we’ve halted its growth, the war is not over,” Moore told National Review. “We must ensure our citizens’ tax dollars are not weaponized against them or our critical energy industries, and my action shows we will not retreat or back down in our fight.”
The financial institutions will be added to West Virginia’s Restricted Financial Institution List in 45 days if they cannot prove they are not boycotting fossil fuels. West Virginia’s legislature authorized Moore in 2022 to create a public list of financial institutions that have limited their business with the coal and natural-gas industries without a reasonable business purpose for doing so.
BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo have been added to the list so far. The state treasurer can remove the companies from the list if it is determined the firms have stopped boycotting natural-gas companies. JP Morgan recently withdrew from an ESG investment coalition featuring investors and firms with roughly $68 trillion in assets under management.
Moore put the group of large financial institutions on the list in July 2022, shortly after the state passed legislation allowing the list’s creation. West Virginia subsequently passed legislation preventing the state’s financial boards from using shareholder proxy votes to impose ESG investing standards on portfolio companies.
In November 2021, Moore announced a 15-state coalition of financial officers holding over $600 billion of assets under management to potentially restrict business with firms that cut off the oil and gas industry and pursue ESG investing goals. He began serving as state treasurer in 2020 and is currently running for Congress in West Virginia’s second district.
ESG investing philosophies typically feature left-wing climate goals and corporate-diversity initiatives based on certain identity groups. Investors pulled over $8 billion from ESG funds in the first three quarters of 2023 because of lower-than-expected returns, the Wall Street Journal previously reported.
The number of S&P 500 companies using the term “ESG” on earnings calls dropped to its lowest number since the second quarter of 2020, according to an analysis by FactSet. S&P Global stopped publishing ESG credit indicators in August following pressure from Moore’s office.