From Boom Capitol

In last week’s editorial, BOOM outlined the lack of wisdom displayed by America’s largest banks in joining the (UN organised) Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). The list of banks included the Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo.

BOOM described how those 6 banks have decided to abide by the oversight and agenda of a United Nations organisation (NZBA) rather than the US Government. This is akin to corporate treason. BOOM pointed out that it may be unlawful as well. The by-line for NZBA gives the game away. In propagandistic style it says “Industry-led, UN convened”. It should read UN led – UN Convened.

“In BOOM’s view, this is a repudiation of the US Government by these companies, a slap in the face to Congress and the Senate. This may be unlawful. The CEO’s have decided that they will be answerable not to their shareholders and not to their National government but to a group of unelected officials who meet at UN Headquarters.”

“BOOM assumes that this means the banks will (somehow) separate their Greenhouse Gas intensive and emitting customers from their non GHG emitting customers? On what basis will this be done to stay within applicable US Laws?

Surely customers who are discriminated against on this basis can take legal action to defend themselves? Have the various CEOs’ generated a contingent liability here?”

BOOM’s editorial on the matter was a hard hitting denouncement of the banks’ actions in regard to the NZBA and was titled: HAVE THE MAJOR US BANKS UNLAWFULLY ABANDONED THE US GOVERNMENT, THEIR SHAREHOLDERS AND SOME OF THEIR MAJOR CUSTOMERS?

As the week progressed, BOOM was not surprised to read that the JP Morgan and State Street Bank funds management divisions had decided to leave a UN inspired group called the Climate Action 100 + Group. Blackrock has apparently also decided to reduce its connections to the group. Perhaps they all read BOOM?

Reuters reported: “The decisions together remove nearly $14 trillion of total assets from efforts to coordinate Wall Street action on tackling climate change and came after the coalition, known as Climate Action 100+, or CA100+, asked signatories to take stronger action over laggards.”

And: “Financial firms have faced growing pressure from Republican politicians over their membership of such groups, amid accusations that committing to shared action could be a breach of antitrust law or fiduciary duty.”

THAT is exactly what BOOM wrote about in last week’s editorial. Bankers and Fund managers should all take note.

The Climate Action 100 + website does not reveal who is behind it, who is the organising force. That seems rather suspicious to BOOM. It describes itself as an “investor-led initiative” with a “global steering committee”.

This is reminiscent of the slogan “Industry-led. UN-convened”.

Its funding is sourced from four “philanthropic” groups including the Climate Works Foundation.

Climate Works Foundation is a Billionaires club. It is funded via “foundations” which are funded by billionaires Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Michael Bloomberg (Bloomberg), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Jeremy Grantham, Julian Robertson, Bill Hewlett, David Packard (Hewlett Packard), Henry Ford (Ford Motor Company), Gordon Moore (Intel), the Brenninkmeijer family (C & A), Ingvar Kamprad (IKEA), Dustin Moskovitz (Facebook). “ClimateWorks also has several funders that prefer to remain anonymous.”

The world’s second largest funds manager, Vanguard, has never joined CA 100 + and, in late 2022, dropped out of another well-known climate group, called the Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) initiative. Vanguard cited independence concerns, as did a number of large insurance companies who have left an associated organisation.

Last March, a group of Republican attorneys general led by Montana’s Austin Knudsen questioned most of the largest US asset managers about their membership in such industry groups and described what it called “potential unlawful coordination” within CA 100+.

Knudsen was reported on Thursday as saying that the moves by the three companies to leave CA100 + was “great news”. He also said, “We need every asset management firm to follow suit.