(Bloomberg) -- Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar added NatWest Group Plc to a list of companies that his office considers to boycott the fossil fuels industry.
The comptroller added the Edinburgh-based bank to the list due to its policy that it will not renew, refinance or extend existing reserve-based lending for the financing of oil and gas exploration, extraction and production after the end of 2025, a spokesperson for Hegar’s office said.
A US-based spokesperson for the bank didn’t have an immediate comment.
The list is the result of a Republican-backed state law that took effect in 2021. Under the measure, Hegar is charged with compiling a list of financial firms that “boycott” the fossil fuels industry. If a firm is added to the so-called divestment list, state entities like pension funds have to sell their holdings of the company, and it is ineligible for certain public contracts.
BlackRock Inc. was among the 15 firms that were previously on the comptroller’s list, which has been updated several times since its initial release in 2022. Most of the companies on the list are European firms.
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