‘Hell No’: Finance Firms Tell Texas They Don’t Boycott Energy
- State has asked companies to clarify their energy policies
- Firms may lose business in state if deemed to boycott industry
An oil pump jack in Midland, Texas.
Photographer: Sergio Flores/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
As Texas officials hunt for financial firms hostile to the energy industry, Wall Street is rolling out its fossil fuel bona fides to convince officials not to bar them from doing business with the state.
Twenty firms, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and HSBC, have so far replied to requests from state comptroller Glenn Hegar over the past two months to disclose whether they restrict or prohibit doing business with energy companies by explicitly saying they do not. Bloomberg obtained the letters through a public-records request. One small Dallas-based firm even replied “Hell no.”