{"id":2208309,"date":"2024-03-28T13:08:03","date_gmt":"2024-03-28T17:08:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mississippi-may-issue-blackrock-multimillion-dollar-fine-over-esg-investing-policies\/"},"modified":"2024-03-28T13:11:30","modified_gmt":"2024-03-28T17:11:30","slug":"mississippi-may-issue-blackrock-multimillion-dollar-fine-over-esg-investing-policies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mississippi-may-issue-blackrock-multimillion-dollar-fine-over-esg-investing-policies\/","title":{"rendered":"Mississippi May Impose Significant Fine on BlackRock for ESG Investing Policies"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmississippi-may-issue-blackrock-multimillion-dollar-fine-over-esg-investing-policies%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2208309&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Mississippi has sent \u2064a cease-and-desist letter to \u200bBlackRock, accusing \u2063the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/financial-giants-pull-14-trillion-from-climate-group-that-pressures-companies-to-take-action-on-climate-change\/\" title=\"Financial giants withdraw T from climate group pushing corporate climate action\">financial asset manager<\/a> of misleading investors about its ESG policies. State Secretary Michael Watson warned of a multimillion-dollar penalty if BlackRock fails to\u2064 comply. The move reflects Mississippi&#8217;s commitment to holding politicized investment firms accountable for deceptive practices. Watson emphasized\u200d the importance\u200c of informed investing decisions for all citizens.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mississippi sent a cease-and-desist letter to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/blackrock\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">BlackRock<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> on Tuesday accusing the financial asset manager of misleading investors about its environmental, social, and governance policies and threatening to level a steep fine on the firm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The letter, from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/mississippi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mississippi<\/a> Secretary of State Michael Watson, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sos.ms.gov\/press\/mississippi-secretary-state-issues-order-against-blackrock-alleged-securities-fraud-related\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">says<\/a> that BlackRock may face a multimillion-dollar financial penalty if it does not comply with the state\u2019s demands. BlackRock, which manages over $10 trillion in assets, has faced increasing scrutiny from Republican officials over its investing policies, especially in relation to its links to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/financial-giants-pull-14-trillion-from-climate-group-that-pressures-companies-to-take-action-on-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">climate activist<\/a> groups.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cBlackRock has made and continues to make untrue statements of material fact, and to omit material facts to make its statements not misleading, to investors and potential investors in Mississippi,\u201d a copy of the <a href=\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/03\/Final-CD-BR.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">letter<\/a>\u00a0obtained by The Daily Wire says. \u201cThese misrepresentations pertain to BlackRock\u2019s provision of investment services, especially its involvement in pushing Environmental, Social, and Governance (\u2018ESG\u2019) factors on portfolio companies. Additionally, many of BlackRock\u2019s acts, practices, and courses of business operate or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon investors and potential investors in Mississippi.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Watson said that the letter and notice of intent to impose administrative penalty was part of Mississippi\u2019s efforts to go after politicized investment companies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cInvestment companies will not push their political agenda on Mississippians, especially through fraudulent and deceptive means,\u201d Watson said. \u201cAll citizens should have the opportunity to make informed and educated decisions when investing their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hate-being-spewed-in-the-name-of-patriotism-wapo-opinion-attacks-anthem-before-games-2\/\" title=\"\u2018Hate Being Spewed In The Name Of Patriotism\u2019: WaPo Opinion Attacks Anthem Before Games\">hard-earned money<\/a>. If not, our office will hold these <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mo-governor-signs-covid-19-liability-bill-into-law\/\" title=\"Mo. governor signs COVID-19 liability bill into law\">bad actors accountable<\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The letter alleges that there are two categories of false and misleading statements made by BlackRock to investors. The first claims that while BlackRock says it doesn\u2019t use all funds for ESG purposes it has already committed \u201cto use all assets under management to advance the environmental agenda of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/amtrak-drops-7-3-billion-on-eco-friendly-trains\/\" title=\"Amtrak Drops .3 Billion On Eco-Friendly Trains\">reducing carbon emissions<\/a> to \u2018net zero.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The second category includes statements from BlackRock indicating that ESG-related investing brings positive financial results. Watson\u2019s letter disputes this saying that is misleading \u201cbecause the consideration of ESG factors does not provide an indication of better financial returns or current or future risk profiles.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">BlackRock has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/finance-and-economy\/2941273\/mississippi-slaps-blackrock-cease-and-desist-order-esg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">responded<\/a> to the letter, saying that Mississippi\u2019s allegations against it were untrue.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><a href=\"https:\/\/onelink.to\/dwapp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" aria-describedby=\"sk-tooltip-9096\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/onelink.to\/dwapp&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1711722593099000&#038;usg=AOvVaw2BYobdhGnzBnBpziY8U6Zu\">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cMany policymakers and government officials have ideas on how we should invest our clients\u2019 assets,\u201d BlackRock said. \u201cWe are always bound to invest consistent with our clients\u2019 choices, their best financial interests, and applicable law. Our only agenda is maximizing risk-adjusted returns for the funds our clients choose to invest in.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">BlackRock, headed up by CEO Larry Fink, has walked back from some of its climate commitments, but has still faced calls to fully abandon ESG policies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cLarry Fink and BlackRock continue to pretend that the only time they engage in ESG, it is with permission of the shareholders, but in reality, ESG policies have seeped into every facet of BlackRock\u2019s asset management,\u201d Will Hild of Consumers\u2019 Research said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/politics\/mississippi-hits-blackrock-with-cease-desist-threatens-massive-fine-over-esg-policies\">statement<\/a> to FOX Business on Wednesday. \u201cThey\u2019ve been lying to their customers, and states like Mississippi are not going to allow this to continue.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mississippi issued a cease-and-desist letter to BlackRock, alleging misleading investors on ESG policies and warning of a hefty fine. Secretary of State Michael Watson&#8217;s letter indicates a potential multimillion-dollar penalty for BlackRock&#8217;s actions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":200,"featured_media":2208310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/03\/GettyImages-462980803.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2208309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/03\/GettyImages-462980803.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2208309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/200"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2208309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2208309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2208310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2208309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2208309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2208309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}