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PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.

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PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. describes itself as "one of the nation's largest financial services companies with assets of $92.0 billion. PNC has a diversified business mix, which includes a regional banking franchise operating primarily in eight states and the District of Columbia, specialized financial businesses serving companies and government entities, and leading asset management and processing businesses." [1]

In July 2004 PNC concluded a deal to buy out the troubled Riggs Bank N.A. According to the Washington Post, "All Riggs branches will assume the PNC bank name... Meanwhile, PNC will dispense entirely with all of Riggs's international and embassy banking operations, which led to the problems Riggs faces today." [2]

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council

PNC has been a corporate funder of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). [1]

A list of ALEC Corporations can be found here.

About ALEC
ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our PRWatch.org site.


Financing for Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

A Rainforest Action Network (RAN) 2010 report Grading the Banks: Mountaintop Removal Report Card on financing for mountaintop removal coal mining ranked PNC the worst of the analyzed financial institutions, including Morgan Stanley and GE Capital, as PNC finances almost half of all mountaintop removal operations in the country. RAN and Sierra Club disclosed the findings of this report card to each of the analyzed banks, including PNC, and offered them the opportunity to improve their grade with further information or changes to banking policies. The ‘best practice’ recommended in the report card is an exclusion policy on commercial lending and investment banking services for all coal companies who practice mountaintop removal coal extraction.

PNC to limit MTR funding

After the 2010 RAN campaign, the PNC published a 2010 Corporate Responsibility Report saying PNC would be moving away from funding MTR. The report read: "MTR is the subject of increasing regulatory and legislative scrutiny, with a focus on the permitting of MTR mines. While this extraction method is permitted, PNC will not provide funding to individual MTR projects, nor will PNC provide credit to coal producers whose primary extraction method is MTR. PNC will continue to monitor this industry while various regulatory issues are addressed through legislation and public policy" (p. 4).

Then in November 2010 PNC announced that it would no longer fund projects associated with mountaintop removal coal mining. “This move makes PNC bank number seven to issue a position on MTR,” the Rainforest Action Network’s Amanda Starbuck wrote of the decision, “following in the footsteps of Bank of America, Citi, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Credit Suisse.” PNC’s decision left UBS and GE Capital as the only major banks that support mountaintop removal.[2]

Shareholders call for end to MTR funding

At an April 2011 PNC annual meeting, several PNC Financial Services Group shareholders challenged CEO James Rohr about the bank's lending to companies that mine coal through mountaintop removal. Rohr said PNC lends only to mining companies "with a modest amount of mountaintop mining" and the bank would "continue to review our policies." According to spokesman Fred Solomon, the bank does not disclose the identity of borrowers or its exposure to specific business segments.[3]

Citizen action

December 2012: Protesters Speak Out Against Investments in Mountaintop Removal at 15 PNC Bank Branches

On December 2, 2012 Quakers, students, and community activists held a coordinated action at 15 PNC banks across the east coal yesterday as part of Earth Quaker Action Team‘s (EQAT) effort to end PNC’s investments in mountaintop removal. At many locations, concerned community members brought samples of drinking water taken from a well in Eunice, West Virginia that had been contaminated by mountaintop removal operations financed by the bank.[4]

Executive Team

Accessed March 2009: [5]

Directors

Accessed March 2009: [6]

Resources and articles

Related Sourcewatch articles

References

  1. ↑ Clearinghouse on Environmental Advocacy and Research, project of the Environmental Working Group, Information on American Legislative Exchange Council, archived organizational profile, archived by Wayback Machine December 2, 2000, accessed August 19, 2011
  2. ↑ "PNC Bank Will No Longer Fund Mountain Top Removal" Brad Johnson, ThinkProgress, November 10, 2010.
  3. ↑ "Mine issue raised at PNC meeting," Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 27, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Protesters Speak Out Against Investments in Mountaintop Removal at 15 PNC Bank Branches" EcoWatch, December 2, 2012.
  5. ↑ Executive Team, PNC Financial Services Group, accessed March 2, 2009.
  6. ↑ Directors, PNC Financial Services Group, accessed March 2, 2009.

External links

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