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'Investment companies will not push their political agenda on Mississippians,' says Michael Watson The state of Mississippi has issued a cease and desist order to trillion-dollar asset manager BlackRock, alleging the firm has committed fraud by misleading investors through its climate policies. Late on Tuesday, Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson's office delivered the order and a notice of intent to impose an administrative penalty — which could amount to a first-of-its-kind multimillion-dollar fine — against BlackRock, an action targeting so-called environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing. Watson claims BlackRock has repeatedly misled Mississippi investors pertaining to its broader ESG...

Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson issued a cease and desist order on Tuesday against asset management company BlackRock, claiming that the firm "repeatedly made false and misleading statements" concerning its environmental, social, and governance agenda, Fox Business reported. Watson, along with the Securities Division of the Secretary of State's Office, issued the order "to stop BlackRock's alleged fraudulent actions and impose a multimillion-dollar administrative penalty," according to a Wednesday press release. Watson accused BlackRock of deceiving Mississippi investors regarding the firm's "involvement in pushing ESG factors on portfolio companies." The order stated that BlackRock claims its non-ESG "funds do...

In his annual letter to shareholders, Fink called the decreasing ability to retire in a financially sound way one of the biggest economic challenges of the mid-21st century. "Today in America, the retirement message that the government and companies tell their workers is effectively: 'You're on your own,'" Fink wrote. A federal law that will require employers with 401(k) plans to auto enroll new workers provides a bright spot, he said.

The State of Texas is terminating a massive $8.5 billion investment with trillion-dollar asset manager BlackRock over the state's determination that the firm is engaged in a boycott of energy companies. In an announcement first shared with FOX Business, Texas State Board of Education Chairman Aaron Kinsey said the so-called Texas Permanent School Fund (PSF) had delivered a notice to BlackRock on Tuesday, informing the New York City-based firm of the action. According to Kinsey, the move was made in accordance with a 2021 state law that seeks to distance the state and its large public purse from financial institutions...

Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have been a smash hit, helping feed into a frenzy that has sent the cryptocurrency’s price to a record high. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have been a smash hit, helping feed into a frenzy that has sent the cryptocurrency's price to a record high. Investors have piled into the funds at a historic clip since their Jan. 11 launch, with total assets in the 10 U.S. spot bitcoin funds on the market swelling to nearly $50 billion. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust eclipsed $10 billion in assets Thursday, the fastest a new ETF has ever reached that milestone. Fidelity's...

At a recent special event hosted by BlackRock, high-profile clients and industry participants were invited to discuss the future of Bitcoin. Bitcoin company Swan, one of the participants of the event, shared some important takeaways with its private customers. The event was significant as it marked BlackRock's attempt to promote its Bitcoin ETF among its top clients. The move aligns with the view that BlackRock is preparing to leverage its marketing and sales skills to promote Bitcoin and its ETF product. Senior officials at BlackRock have revealed that they have received calls from unexpected quarters expressing interest in purchasing Bitcoin....

“Millions” could die in Ukraine’s war with Russia if US lawmakers don’t approve President Joe Biden’s $60 billion aid request for Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN on Sunday. Asked by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins about a claim made by the US Senator J.D. Vance that the outcome of the war would not change even if Ukraine receives the money, Zelensky said he wasn’t sure Vance “understands what is going on here.” “To understand it is to come to the front line to see what’s going on, to speak with the people, then to go to civilians to understand …...

CBS News has returned the notes it seized from a high-profile reporter the network fired for 'investigating Hunter Biden' .. ... SAG-AFTRA, the CBS workers' union, called the seizure of her notes 'completely inappropriate' and 'very unusual'. ... CBS News has returned the notes it seized from a high-profile reporter the network fired for 'investigating Hunter Biden.' Catherine Herridge, a veteran reporter covering national security and intelligence, was among the hundreds of CBS employees who were laid off by parent company Paramount last week. Herridge covered investigations into the Biden family, and the network seized her personal notes after her...

Below is my column in The Hill on the trouble brewing at CBS over the seizure of the files of acclaimed investigative reporter Catherine Herridge. The column broke the story on the uproar over not just her being laid off but her being locked out from her files. I am now hearing from CBS sources that the network is moving toward a resolution to turn over the files after the outcry. However, the concerns over Herridge’s firing and the network’s handling of her confidential notes continues to draw fire from journalists and commentators. The union issued a statement (below) after...

CBS reportedly seized files from Catherine Herridge, the network’s recently laid-off senior investigative correspondent. This action included materials that may reveal information about confidential sources, according to an article by Jonathan Turley, Shapiro Chair of Public Interest Law at George Washington University, in The Hill. Catherine Herridge, an Emmy-winning and nominated reporter known for her work on national security and intelligence, was among the 800 employees Paramount Global laid off in a bid to streamline operations amid financial strain. Her firing has since escalated into a broader controversy. In his article titled “CBS faces uproar after seizing investigative journalist’s files,”...

Likely based on the attention given to its control of proxy voting, BlackRock has unveiled what it calls “a new proxy voting opportunity in iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV).” The multinational investment giant notes that this particular product is its largest and among the most widely held exchange-traded fund. While giving individual investors a say in the votes related to their holdings is a good thing, this new scheme on closer inspection appears to be a way for BlackRock to push climate and social-related policies while making it seem like clients voted for them. Very sneaky. Following U.N. guidance...

JPMorgan Chase and institutional investors BlackRock and State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) on Thursday announced that they are quitting or, in the case of BlackRock, substantially scaling back involvement in a massive United Nations climate alliance formed to combat global warming through corporate sustainability agreements. In a statement, the New York-based JPMorgan Chase explained that it would exit the so-called Climate Action 100+ investor group because of the expansion of its in-house sustainability team and the establishment of its climate risk framework in recent years. BlackRock and State Street, which both manage trillions of dollars in assets, said the alliance's...

JPMorgan Chase and institutional investors BlackRock and State Street Global Advisors announced Thursday that they are quitting or, in the case of BlackRock, substantially scaling back involvement in a massive United Nations climate alliance formed to combat global warming through corporate sustainability agreements. In a statement, the New York-based JPMorgan Chase explained that it would exit the so-called Climate Action 100+ investor group because of the expansion of its in-house sustainability team and the establishment of its climate risk framework in recent years. BlackRock and State Street, which both manage trillions of dollars in assets, said the alliance's climate initiatives...

The prospect of a Donald Trump return to the White House in 2024 poses a “fundamental” challenge to Europe, the leader of the world’s largest investment company warned Tuesday. The Daily Telegraph reports BlackRock vice chairman Philipp Hildebrand issued his caution from the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. In doing so he added his voice to the swelling chorus from Europe that fears a Trump return to the world stage. The veteran Swiss banker said the re-election of the former U.S. president “would challenge Europe fundamentally” given Trump’s determination to embrace America First in matters...

(Robert F. Kennedy Jr.) "The Russians tried repeatedly to settle...major thing they wanted was for us to keep NATO out of Ukraine. The Big Military Contractors want to add new countries to NATO...Why? Because that country has to conform its military purchases... Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Boeing and Lockheed get a trapped market... We committed 113 billion dollars...we then committed another 24 billion since then... Biden's asking for another 60 billion. But the big, big expenses are going to come after the war when we have to rebuild.... Mitch McConnell was asked "Can we really afford to spend 113...

So the pullback in ESG firms continues, eh? John had a post in December about corporations and campuses who were beginning to get pushback on their DEI initiative. BlackRock was one of those named, doing some verbiage shuffling to avoid legal challenges, among other problems besetting the grievance and equity industry.…Investment manager BlackRock (BLK.N), which received a letter in April, removed language stating a scholarship was “designed for” members of specific underrepresented groups…At the end of the month word broke that the state of Tennessee was suing the firm for “misleading” ESG policies and harming the bottom line for investors.The...

As a deadline to approve a spot bitcoin ETF nears, the marketing war has begun as issuers seek to win a share of a market some experts say will be worth billions of dollars. On Monday, Bitwise Asset Management kicked off the race to market to potential investors by showing its first video advertisement on X (formerly Twitter) featuring Jonathan Goldsmith, who tells the audience, “You know what’s interesting these days, Bitcoin.” The dialogue is a reference to Goldsmith’s notable role as the “Most Interesting Man in the World” in commercials for Dos Equis beer. About a dozen firms have...

The headline is the non-pretending reality. Now that Joe Biden has designated EPA mandates for U.S. automobiles that include having at least 50% of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030 {LINK}, three major Chinese EV manufacturers are reportedly building manufacturing facilities in Mexico.

The House Judiciary Committee is probing whether the firms' environmental, social, and governance standards violated anti-trust laws.. he House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed BlackRock and State Street Global Advisors in its investigation into whether their adoption of environmental, social and governance standards violated U.S. anti-trust laws. The committee, led by Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), is probing whether the two investment managers entered into collusive agreements to decarbonize their assets under management and reach net zero emissions by 2050 in ways that could violate anti-competitive laws. The committee issued the subpoena on Friday, claiming that the documents handed over by both firms...

@simonateba BREAKING - CHARACTER ASSASSINATION: @FoxNews sister news outlet owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, @nypost, attacks @TuckerCarlson and @VivekGRamaswamy and indirectly @elonmusk . In what appeared to be a hit job and a deliberate character assassination to promote @RonDeSantis and @NikkiHaley, two candidates with zero chance of winning the GOP nomination, while indirectly attempting to undermine @realDonaldTrump ahead of the first GOP primary in Iowa, Rupert Murdoch's publication sensationally claimed that Vivek has become a 'conspiracy theorist' like 'Tucker Carlson' for suggesting that the next Republican debate be hosted on X for a bigger audience. The paper writes, "That...