AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton applauded Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan for leaving the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (“NZBA”), an anti-oil and gas activist organization that pushes members to advance destructive climate goals regardless of their obligations to consumers and investors.
In October 2023, Attorney General Paxton opened a review of Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and other financial institutions’ status under Senate Bill 13, a Texas law prohibiting governmental entities from entering into contracts with companies that boycott the oil and gas industries. These institutions’ previous membership in NZBA suggested that their activities might have required them to be classified as energy boycotters under state law.
Recently, Wells Fargo also terminated its NZBA membership after Attorney General Paxton strongly urged the bank to do so. At that time, Attorney General Paxton closed his review of Wells Fargo and called on other NZBA members to withdraw. Now that all major banks based in the United States have withdrawn from NZBA, the reviews of Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and JP Morgan will also be closed.
“More and more financial institutions are taking a major step in the right direction by leaving the radical and anti-energy Net-Zero Banking Alliance. The NZBA seeks to undermine our vital oil and gas industries, and membership could potentially prevent banks from being able to enter into contracts with Texas governmental entities,” said Attorney General Paxton. “I am glad that Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan have terminated their NZBA membership.”
