ESG Weekly Update – June 23, 2022

U.S.: West Virginia Targets Financial Firms for ESG Initiatives

A number of the United States' largest financial institutions - including BlackRock, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo - have been notified by West Virginia officials that they could be banned from doing business with the state because of perceived "boycotts" of the fossil fuel industry.

West Virginia Senate Bill 262, which took effect June 10, allows the state treasurer's office to create a Restricted Financial Institution List consisting of financial institutions that allegedly refuse to deal with coal, oil or natural gas companies "without a reasonable business purpose." The same day, State Treasurer Riley Moore notified the firms that his office determined that they were engaged in a boycott of energy companies based on public information. Under the provisions of the new law, the financial institutions have 45 days to demonstrate that they are not engaged in such a boycott;