Follow Up to County Vote to Divest from Banks Financing Fossil Fuels & Detention Centers

Follow Up to County Vote to Divest from Banks Financing Fossil Fuels & Detention Centers

On Tuesday, December 10, the County Board of Supervisors voted 5:0 to approve a Resolution on Socially Responsible Investment, to remove County funds from banks which invest in fossil fuels, and from Wells Fargo and BNP-Paribas, two banks which profit from the inhumane detention centers at the border.

Friends of Public Banking Santa Rosa

A big congratulations to everyone in getting the county to unanimously vote in favor of divesting from banks that are financing the fossil fuel industry and detention centers. As a follow up and to help keep you all educated on the amount of money the County currently has invested in said banks, I would like to share the information that the Friends of Public Banking Santa Rosa researched and presented that day to the County Supervisors.
First off, for any of you that may have missed it, here is the story that ran in the PD on the County’s vote on the Resolution Regarding Socially Responsible Investing:
1) Attached letter that was read to supervisors on behalf of Friends of Public Banking Santa Rosa and the California Public Banking Alliance.
2) Attached Sonoma County Quarterly Report on Investments – September 2019
3) Attached Page 11 of Sonoma County Quarterly Report on Investments – September 2019 with highlights reflecting investments in 6 banks totaling $287million
4) Fossil Fuel Report Card 2019 reflecting top 33 banks around the world investing in Fossil Fuels:
5) Attached is page 7 of the 2019 Fossil Fuel Report Card with highlights reflecting all 6 banks the County is currently invested in that are among the top 33 banks in the world financing the fossil fuel industry.
6) Attached is a spreadsheet showing the total amount of money the County had invested in banks financing the fossil fuel industry and detention centers from their March and September 2019 Investment Reports.
7) Comparison of JP Morgan Chase’s response to assisting local customers after 2017 wildfires, vs the Bank of North Dakota response to the fire and flood in Grand Forks (population 57,000), North Dakota in 1997.
You will note that in September, the County had $92 million invested in Wells Fargo. The Auditor – Controller – Treasurer – Tax Collector Eric Roeser stated in his presentation to the County Board of Supervisors that since the September report, they had reduced their investments in Wells Fargo to $38million.
Roeser also stated that the County does not currently have any investments in banks that are financing the fossil fuel industry. I pointed out to him that he was incorrect in that statement, as page 11 of the County’s September 2019 report reflects that the County has investments in 6 banks, all of which are on the 2019 Fossil Fuel Report Card. And that the actual total of their investments in banks financing the fossil fuel industry in the September report came to $287million, representing 13.6% of the County’s total investments of $2.1billion.
He then stated that he did not know at the time he made those investments that those banks are financing the fossil fuel industry.
You will note in the attached spreadsheet of the counties March and September investments that the two main banks financing the detention centers are Wells Fargo and BNP Parabis, both of which are also on the Fossil Fuel Report card as being investors in fossil fuels.
As expressed in the PD article, Roeser also stated that the County no longer has investments in PNB Parabis. The September investment report reflect $75million in investments there, which likely could have also been reduced or terminated since the time of the reporting.
The next County quarterly report will be out in January. Let us all be diligent in continuing to monitor these investment reports that reflect where our tax dollars are being invested and assure that they do indeed divest from the banks that are financing the fossil fuel industry and detention centers.
To our collective best always,
S. Browning
Friends of Public Banking Santa Rosa
SONOMA COUNTY POOLED INVESTMENT PROGRAM
For Quarter Ending September 30, 2019
BEGINNING FUND BALANCE (07/01/2019)
$2,523,513,465
ENDING FUND BALANCE
$2,187,622,121
AVERAGE DAILY FUND BALANCE
$2,284,492,067
TOTAL INTEREST EARNED (after fees) $12,744,959
INTEREST RATE (after fees) 2.213
INTEREST RATE (before fees) 2.285
TOTAL FUNDS MANAGED BY TREASURY
TOTAL TREASURY BALANCE
$2,197,227,966
(including tobacco endowment, PACE bond
investments, active bank accounts and money
in transit)
So Co Investments in Banks Financing Fossil Fuels and Detention Centers
March of 2019 September of 2019
InvestedFoss Fuel Dtn Cntr Invested Foss Fuel Dtn Cntr Wells Fargo
$   117,236,707.69
X
X
$     91,926,987.08
X
X
Citi Bank
$     24,649,365.65
X
TD – Toronto Dominion
$     90,000,000.00
X
$     20,000,000.00
X
Scotia Bank
$     25,000,000.00
X
$     45,000,000.00
X
Bank of Montreal
$     85,000,000.00
X
$     20,000,000.00
X
BNP Paribas
$     75,004,587.61
X
X
$     75,004,523.81
X
X
CIBC
$     30,000,000.00
X
UBS AG Stamford
$     35,000,000.00
X
Invested
$   446,890,660.95
$   286,931,510.89
So Co Total Investment
$2.5 Billion
$2.1 Billion
% of Total Investments
17.80%
13.60%