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Utah officials send letter to S&P over ESG indicators (2022)
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April 21, 2022
In late March 2022, S&P Global released a credit indicator report on the state of Utah that went beyond traditional versions of such reports. S&P, among other things, rated corporate ESG preparedness, including an ESG component in its reports on each of the 50 states. On April 20, Utah Governor Spencer Cox (R), Senators Mike Lee (R) and Mitt Romney (R), all of the state’s congressmen, along with its treasurer and attorney general, sent a letter to S&P, arguing that the ESG component of its report was inherently political and therefore unfair.[1]
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Utah’s governor and its federal lawmakers are objecting to S&P Global’s move to publish ESG indicators for U.S. states, calling it an undue politicization of the ratings process. In a letter sent to the firm on Thursday, the politicians — all Republicans — lay out a lengthy rebuke of S&P’s move to release environmental, social and governance assessments, known as ESG. Despite Utah’s results falling in line with many other states, the officials argue S&P should focus strictly on financial fundamentals. “S&P’s ESG credit indicators politicize what should be a purely financial decision,” reads the letter, which was obtained by Bloomberg News. It was signed by Governor Spencer Cox, Senators Mike Lee and Mitt Romney, all four of the state’s members of the House, as well as its treasurer and attorney general. The letter also demands the report is withdrawn, seeks more information from S&P and says the state won’t cooperate in gathering ESG criteria. S&P has said ESG credit factors are those that “can materially influence the creditworthiness of a rated entity or issue and for which we have sufficient visibility and certainty to include in our credit rating analysis,” and that they are “applied after the credit rating has been determined.”[2] |
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See also
- Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's ESG newsletter
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Bloomberg, "Utah Blasts S&P for ‘Politicized’ State ESG Indicators," April 21, 2022
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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