Attorney General Miyares Scores Victory for Consumer Choice and Corporate Accountability

RICHMOND, VA — Attorney General Jason Miyares and 17 other state attorneys general today announced the conclusion of an investigation into Wells Fargo & Company following the company’s decision to abandon certain Environmental Social Governance (ESG) policies. 

“Virginians expect an honest return for their hard work, especially retirees and senior citizens looking forward to retirement,” said Attorney General Jason Miyares. “Sound economics should triumph over social fads every time.  Retirement and investment accounts must look out for the interests of investors, rather than advancing risky social schemes.”

Since October 2022, the coalition has been investigating whether Wells Fargo and five other American banks—Bank of America Corporation; Citigroup Inc.; The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.; JPMorgan Chase & Co.; and Morgan Stanley—violated antitrust or consumer protection laws by implementing net-zero emissions policies and restricting financing. By joining initiatives like the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, which required member banks to align their portfolios to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and set specific targets for “carbon-intensive sectors” by 2030, these banks potentially compromised their fiduciary obligations to customers and investors and simultaneously usurped the policy-making authority of America’s elected representatives. 
 
Recently, Wells Fargo announced that it was ending its membership in the Net-Zero Banking Alliance.  Wells Fargo further announced that it was “discontinuing our sector-specific 2030 interim financed emissions targets and our goal to achieve net zero by 2050 for financed emissions.” 

While other banks have also recently ended their Net-Zero Banking Alliance memberships, only Wells Fargo has publicly ended the ESG goals mandated by the Net-Zero Banking Alliance. The coalition’s investigation into the other five banks will continue. 
 
Virginia is joined in the announcement by Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia. 
 

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