Investments

The Securities and Exchange Commission is facing a legal challenge from groups that argue rules meant to diversify the boards of banks and other publicly traded companies amount to discrimination.

The financial industry is offering loans for solar energy projects, carbon emission trackers, green mortgages and cash-back incentives to help customers go green.

JPMorgan Chase, which has mostly been absent from the business of underwriting Texas municipal bonds for the past year, plans to revive its work with the state and its local governments soon.

Texas is taking steps that could cost BlackRock, UBS Group and eight other finance firms business with the state after finding them to be hostile to the energy industry.

A growing number of challenger banks and fintechs are trying to help customers live more sustainable lives through carbon calculators with localized data.

A recent mini-tender offer to shareholders in Truist Financial serves as a cautionary tale. "They're trolling around for investors that aren't paying attention," one lawyer said.

JPMorgan Chase led U.S. banks increasing direct loans to states and local governments last quarter as the firms filled a void left by mutual fund investors who fled the traditional municipal bond market amid soaring inflation and surging yields.

The Federal Reserve looks to be paying closer attention to a potential pinch-point that rankled dollar funding markets almost three years ago and could at some stage become a catalyst for ending early officials' plans to shrink the U.S. central bank's expanded balance sheet.

"Animal welfare scores low in priority at many financial institutions" in the U.S., says Merel van der Mark, animal welfare and finance program manager for Sinergia Animal, an organization based in Brazil that has been maintaining a ranking of how banks around the world perform on several measures of ethics with regard to animals.

Bank of America, BNY Mellon and Citi invested $20 million in Genesis Global, a company that helps financial markets organizations develop applications through its low-code platform.

Dominica Groom Williams succeeds Wendy McSweeney, who’s joining a new team at the bank focusing on environmental, social and governance issues.

Banks are making a mistake in their opposition to the SEC’s proposal to mandate disclosure of carbon emissions and other climate data.

GOP lawmakers on Thursday accused SEC Chair Gary Gensler of disregarding their recent request for more information about proposed climate risk disclosure rules. The episode offers a preview of the aggressive oversight Biden administration regulators are likely to face next year should Republicans take control of the House or Senate.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell recently sold more than $1 million of municipal bonds issued by various entities across the U.S. as tough new ethics rules took effect for central bank officials in the wake of a trading scandal last year.

Bank of Montreal agreed to buy Radicle Group Inc., a sustainability-advisory and emissions-measurement firm, to help clients that are working to reduce their environmental impacts.

Securities regulators in Texas and Alabama are expanding their investigations into Voyager Digital and Celsius Network to account for new information arising from the implosions of the two crypto-lending firms. 

After the Supreme Court struck down an Environmental Protection Agency rule, legal observers are wondering how far the justices will go to rein in the authority of financial regulators. A Securities and Exchange Commission proposal on climate risk disclosures could become a test case.

The Department of Justice is prosecuting ex-JPMorgan Chase bankers under federal racketeering law, a move public interest advocates hope could lead to more accountability for financial firms.

Data as of Mar. 31, 2022. Dollars in thousands.