The House Judiciary Committee, led by Rep. Jim Jordan, has subpoenaed BlackRock and State Street Global Advisors for documents and communications relating to the panel’s investigation into environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals and antitrust laws. The panel made the announcement and requested documents from both companies on July 6, 2023, but has deemed the companies’ overall responses as “inadequate.”
Following previous subpoenas issued to Vanguard Group and Arjuna Capital, the Friday subpoenas are part of the panel’s investigation into potential illegal collusion to withhold funding from fossil fuel companies and decarbonize the U.S. economy.
Rep. Jordan, from Ohio, initiated the investigation into asset managers like Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street over concerns that their involvement in the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative may have violated U.S. competition law. The initiative aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F).
BlackRock and State Street have both stated that they are cooperating with the committee and have already produced thousands of documents and pages in response to the investigation. They will continue to work with the committee going forward.
