Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, along with a coalition of attorneys general from 17 other states, announced the completion of an investigation into Wells Fargo & Company. This inquiry came after Wells Fargo's decision to move away from certain Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) policies.
Attorney General Skrmetti commended Wells Fargo's recent actions, noting that "companies exist to make money, not policy," and emphasized the importance of consumer choice and corporate accountability. He further expressed, "I commend Wells Fargo’s pro-consumer decision to step away from utopian policymaking, and I look forward to the rest of America’s major financial institutions following its lead."
The coalition's investigation focused on whether Wells Fargo and five other prominent American banks were in violation of antitrust or consumer protection laws by implementing policies aimed at achieving net-zero emissions. These policies, tied to the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, required member banks to align portfolios for net-zero emissions by 2050 and target reductions for carbon-intensive sectors by 2030. Concerns were raised that these commitments might have compromised the banks' fiduciary responsibilities and encroached on the jurisdiction of policymakers.
Wells Fargo recently announced its withdrawal from the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, stating it would end its 2030 interim financed emissions targets and the broader 2050 net-zero emissions goals. While some other banks have also exited the alliance, Wells Fargo is the only one to have renounced the ESG mandates.
The Office of the Tennessee Attorney General will continue to lead the investigation regarding the other five banks involved: Bank of America Corporation, Citigroup Inc., The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Morgan Stanley.
The announcement was supported by attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.
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