(Reuters) – Kentucky on Tuesday warned 11 major financial companies, including Citigroup Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co and BlackRock Inc, of potential divestment over their “boycott” of energy companies.
State government entities must notify the Treasurer of direct or indirect holdings in the companies in the list. They must also write to the firms, asking them to stop the “boycott” failing which, they could be subject to divestment, Kentucky State Treasurer Allison Ball said.
Republicans have been ramping up pressure on the finance industry over what they say are their increasingly aggressive environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices.
In the past year, other states like West Virginia and Texas have also boycotted several financial firms.
Spokespersons for BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
