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Texas demands documents from BlackRock, other financial service firms in ESG probe
Excerpt:
.....The Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs, led by Chairman Bryan Hughes, sent letters to investment giants BlackRock Inc., State Street Global Advisors, and The Vanguard Group, along with Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) on Aug. 10, requesting documentation related to the companies’ decision-making involving their respective ESG practices.
The letters, all of which were obtained and viewed by FOX Business, give the companies until close of business on Sept. 9, 2022, to comply.
.....Texas lawmakers are particularly interested in the practices of the major financial firms because of their involvement with the Teacher Retirement System of Texas and the Employee Retirement System of Texas, which have entrusted the companies with managing their investments. Hughes says those companies “have a duty to maximize returns, not to play politics, not to push their left-wing agenda.”
“Their job is to maximize shareholder wealth, and we know from their own admissions that they’re playing politics with other people’s money,” Hughes said. “Well, that money belongs to Texans, and so we’re going to find out what’s going on and we’re going to hold them accountable.”
.....Hughes said the committee will gather their information and then make recommendations to the Texas state legislature when it returns to session in January and that “depending on what is uncovered, state agencies might move their money somewhere else.”
“Based on what we’ve seen so far, these firms are using other people’s money to play politics, and the politics they’re pushing is against the interests of everyday Americans – and certainly in Texas,” Hughes told FOX Business. “So that’s what this is about, and people need to know about this and we have to do something about it.”
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