Oklahoma officials take exemptions from state law opposing ESG (2023)
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This year Republican elected officials seeking to oppose ESG in state investments have pushed back against some state financial officials who claim anti-ESG legislation and regulation would increase costs to the state’s funds. Oklahoma law requires the divestment of state funds from financial services firms that promote ESG-related policies. But officials have struggled to implement the law and find alternative financial firms and banks willing to provide services at a similar price:
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In Oklahoma, where a new law requires the state to stop doing business with financial companies that “boycott” the oil-and-gas industry, officials and pension employees are running into hurdles while trying to comply. In one instance, the state’s second-largest public pension found it would cost $10 million to move its money out of funds managed by BlackRock and State Street, two of the blacklisted companies. In another, the Office of the State Treasurer said it would be impractical to end its banking relationships with JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America. Both parties are taking exemptions to the new law. Oklahoma is among several conservative states that have recently passed legislation targeting financial firms that have embraced ESG—or environmental, social and governance—investing principles. But no state has moved as fast to enforce a broad blacklist of financial firms, creating a case study in Oklahoma that Wall Street and other states are closely watching.[1] |
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See also
- Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's ESG newsletter
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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