Labor Department to BlackRock: The Law Requires You Maximize Financial Returns, Not De-Carbonization

July 10, 2020 (EIRNS)-The Labor Department has released a clarification of existing rules and regulations which essentially tells BlackRock and all other fund managers that the new “Green Finance” policies being adopted by BlackRock and others are not legal. Risk, it appears, means financial risk, not the risk of a carbon-footprint.

As reported by Forbes, the clarification addresses so-called ESGs—“environmental, social, and governance” issues being applied to investment decisions under “Green Finance.” The problem, according to the Labor Department, is that “private pension fund managers must be singularly focused on maximizing financial returns for their beneficiaries. The fiduciary fund managers cannot make investment decisions based on amorphous ESG factors that consist of loosely applied, non-accounting measures used by investors, analysts, and activists to evaluate corporations.”

Forbes goes on to note: “Some investment managers have differentiated themselves by promoting ESG as a value-added investment approach. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink recently gained a lot of attention by marketing his commitment to advancing ESG measures, such as corporate purpose, stakeholder capitalism, and climate.”

Of course, such minor issues as rules and regulations mean little when you run $7 trillion in private assets and have been given control of the Federal Reserve’s assets, as Larry Fink has.