Mail Online

Angry Texans blacklist HSBC for its ‘green social agenda’

francesca.washtell@mailonsunday.co.uk

HSBC bankers eager for a trip to Texas may have to put their cowboy boots away after the Lone Star State added the lender to its eco-sanctions list.

There are a number of reasons this is eyebrowraising – not least because few people knew that Texas has been cracking down on companies which are, in its view, too antifossil fuels.

Glenn Hegar, the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, has described HSBC’s new, greener energy policy as a ‘prime example of a broader movement’ in the financial sector to push a ‘social agenda’. This blacklisting could prohibit Texas’s governmental entities from investing in one of Europe’s biggest banks.

Given HSBC’s track record for being slammed for its supposedly antienvironmental policies, this development is practically a badge of honour.

Other big names being targeted include Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, Fidelity, Abrdn and UBS. You can’t please everyone.

COULD Wickes be the next DIY retailer to attempt to fix up the high street?

Chief executive David Wood said last week he was ‘curious’ about the idea of opening mini or ‘local’ stores – which B&Q and Ikea are already trialling – in the wake of an 11 per cent drop in profits.

Bringing hammers and screws to the masses, rather than waiting for them to visit huge retail park outlets, could be a boon for towns.

It may also appeal to a new demographic Wickes is targeting – younger customers who want to make small repairs in homes they rent.

Keep the stores open late and maybe shoppers can pick up a kebab and a measuring tape while heading home from the pub.

Financial

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2023-03-26T07:00:00.0000000Z

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https://mailonline.pressreader.com/article/283214447454128

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