Oklahoma shortens the list of banned banks. Bank of America, Wells Fargo still barred

William C. Wertz, The Oklahoman
Updated ·2 min read
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Oklahoma state Treasurer Todd Russ has whittled down a list of companies banned from doing business with the state because of their investment policies.

Russ, a Republican, had put 13 companies on the list in May because of environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies he said amounted to a boycott of oil and gas companies. Now the list is down to six "after further analysis."

Spokesperson Jordan Harvey said the companies removed from the list had responded that they were not publicly traded and therefore did not meet the criteria for inclusion.

Removed from the list were: GCM Grosvenor, Lexington Partners, Firstmark Fund Partners, Stepstone VC Global Partners, WCM Investment Management, William Blair and Actis.

Still on the list are BlackRock Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America, N.A., State Street Corp., and Climate First Bank.

More: Oklahoma may be hurting itself with a ban on some big banks and financial firms

The ban has caused problems for some communities across the state, like Stillwater. In April, the city council voted to borrow money from Bank of America for a $13.5 million infrastructure project. Bank of America offered the lowest interest rate, and the next best lender had a rate 0.7% higher. That meant an additional $1.2 million in additional costs.

Gov. Kevin Stitt, who signed the ban into law last year, said getting off the list was simple.

"As soon as you stop attacking the oil and gas industry and as soon as you stop pushing a political agenda ... we are happy to do business with you," he said.

However, Mike Fina, executive director of the Oklahoma Municipal League, said he was hopeful the restricted list could be eliminated soon.

"Treasurer Russ has assured us on several occasions that this will not impact municipal governments and we believe him to be sincere in that assessment. However, we have learned that the legislation's unintended consequences have created uncertainty with our lending institutions," Fina said.

Fina noted the higher interest rates taxpayers in stillwater had to pay and said, "This is only the first of many public improvement projects across the state that will be impacted. Ultimately, the increased cost will impair our municipalities' ability to do these kinds of projects, or it will impact critical services like fire and police."

He added: "Our longstanding opinion is that public contracts using taxpayer dollars should be based on the lowest and best bid. That is what we will be advocating for when the Legislature returns next year."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma treasurer shortens list of blacklisted banks, companies