Not sure about the others, but State Street moved all of their software development to China over a decade ago. Their independence in “ruling the world” is questionable.
Ownership on my behalf through an index fund (Vanguard) does not equal “control”.
bmp
The people who write these articles don’t understand the difference between ownership, management, and custody.
The bulk of this stock is owned by individuals who have accounts at Vanguard and Blackrock. They are saving trillions of dollars for retirement, but they have to use a broker as an account manager. Vanguard and Blackrock offer various funds, charge fees, and keep track of how much money and securities are in each individual account But Vanguard and Blackrock do not have possession of the actual stock - they use a custodian like State Street or J.P. Morgan. The custody banks manage the operational tasks like holding electronic stock certificates, receiving and collecting dividends, etc.
At the custody bank, the stock is treated as a single entity - this giant pile is Vanguard, this one is Blackrock. The custody banks don’t know who the beneficial owner of the securities are, because the brokerage houses are in charge of keeping track of that. The companies who issue the stock only know who the custodian is, because that’s all they need to know to send out dividends.
That would be “Dutch.”