Business
North Carolina-headquartered Barings named in Climate Action 100+ probe
The Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, in a report, says its probe has led to a loss of $17 trillion worth of assets under management by the Climate Action 100+. That includes $6.6 trillion from BlackRock, $4.1 trillion by State Street, $3.1 trillion by JPMorgan, $1.89 trillion by PIMCO, and $1.6 trillion by Invesco.
From The Center Square
By Alan Wooten
An interim report by the Judiciary – Climate Control: Exposing the Decarbonization Collusion in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investing – labels the initiative a “climate cartel,” one which is involved in collusion and has not been investigated by the Biden administration.
One North Carolina company is among more than 130 in the United States being asked by a congressional committee about involvement with environmental, social and governance initiative Climate Action 100+.
U.S. Reps. Deborah Ross and Dan Bishop, a Democrat and Republican respectively from North Carolina, are among the 42 members of the Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives seeking answers. In addition to the letter sent to Charlotte-headquartered Barings, the probe also seeks answers on involvement by retirement systems and government pension programs.
The probe and letters dated last Tuesday to Climate Action 100+ is trying to find answers to how the companies are operating with tactics, requests and actions; and garner documentations. A noon Aug. 13 deadline is set for responses.
Antitrust law, and the possible breach of it, is cited in each letter. Antitrust laws, the Department of Justice says, “prohibit anticompetitive conduct and mergers that deprive American consumers, taxpayers, and workers of the benefits of competition.”
An interim report by the Judiciary – Climate Control: Exposing the Decarbonization Collusion in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investing – labels the initiative a “climate cartel,” one which is involved in collusion and has not been investigated by the Biden administration.
“The climate cartel has declared war on our way of life, escalating its attacks on free markets and demanding that companies slash output of the critical products and services that allow Americans to drive, fly, and eat,” the report says. “The Biden administration has failed to act upon the climate cartel’s apparent violations of longstanding U.S. antitrust law. The committee, in contrast, is actively investigating their anticompetitive behavior.”
The report says with launch of the probe came withdrawals from the effort by BlackRock, State Street and JPAM, “three of the world’s largest asset managers.” Asset managers BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard own 21.9% of shares, and vote 24.9% of the shares, within the Standard and Poor’s (S&P) 500.
More than 272,000 documents and 2.5 million pages of nonpublic information were reviewed, the Judiciary says.
Most of the letters went to addresses in New York, Massachusetts and California.
Barings, according to its website, “is a global asset management firm which seeks to deliver excess returns across public and private markets in fixed income, real assets and capital solutions.”
In general, ESG investing – an acronym used in conjunction with environmental, social, and governance policies in investments – measures company policy. These policies typically align with progressive, or left, thoughts when it comes to politics.
Other names of description are sustainability, such as treatment of natural resources, gas emissions and climate regulations. A company’s policies for profits shared in the community, and how health and safety are impacted, relates to the social aspect. Governance usually aligns not only with integrity of accountability toward shareholders, but also diversity in leadership.
Issues in a company’s industry and the principles of ESG often shape policy.
Bishop is a member of the Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust within the Judiciary Committee. The 26-member subcommittee is chaired by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.
Managing Editor
By Ken Macon
Digital ID systems risk becoming massive vulnerabilities in the face of modern cyber threats.
Ukraine’s reliance on its new digital identity systems has become a warning about the dangers of digital ID, as a recent cyberattack exposed critical vulnerabilities in the country’s digital infrastructure.
Last month, several key government databases were taken offline, disrupting essential services like legal filings and marriage registrations. Officials assured citizens that the controversial Diia, the government’s widely used e-governance app, would soon be restored, but the incident laid bare significant risks within the app’s centralized backend platform, Trembita.
This breach, the most serious since Trembita’s launch in 2020, raises urgent questions about the security of Ukraine’s growing dependence on digital IDs and is a clear warning to other countries that are rushing to embrace the controversial tech.
Trembita, the platform enabling Diia’s operations, functions as a digital network connecting government databases. While officials insisted it operated as designed during the breach, cybersecurity experts are sounding alarms.
Mykyta Knysh, a former Ukrainian security official, described the platform’s centralized architecture as a dangerous “single point of failure.” Warnings about these risks had surfaced before — security analysts cautioned in 2021 that consolidating sensitive personal and administrative data under Diia would leave Ukraine exposed to large-scale attacks.
The Russian hacking group XakNet has claimed responsibility for the attack.
This highlights a broader danger inherent in Ukraine’s ambitious digitalization efforts, spearheaded by the Ministry of Digital Transformation under the Zelensky administration.
While consolidating government services into the smartphone-based Diia app has streamlined access for millions of citizens, the breakneck pace of implementation has left little time to address critical security gaps.
The compromised registries contained highly sensitive data, including personal addresses, family connections, and financial assets.
Beyond military implications, the breach exposes the inherent risks of digital ID systems. Security analysts have pointed out that a central repository of personal data, as seen in Ukraine’s system, creates lucrative targets for hackers. If exploited, such data could fuel identity theft, phishing campaigns, or even more devastating cyberattacks, undermining public trust in digital governance.
If you’re tired of censorship and surveillance, subscribe to Reclaim The Net.
By Rick Findlay
The executive order marks a decisive pivot in US digital asset policy.
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