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 |
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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.
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Coal Financing
Mountaintop removal
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.
After the 2010 RAN report, 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).
In November 2010 PNC announced that it would no longer fund projects associated with mountaintop removal coal mining.[2]
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]
Coal ports
In July 2013 a coalition of environmental groups filed suit against the Export-Import Bank, challenging the federal agency’s financing of fossil fuel exports from ports in Baltimore and Hampton Roads. The suit targets a $90 million loan guarantee that the Ex-Im Bank made in 2012 to Xcoal Energy & Resources, a Pennsylvania coal broker, to sell coal from Appalachian mines to customers in Asia and Italy. The plaintiffs claim that the bank failed to conduct a required environmental review before providing the guarantee. They want to block a portion of the $90 million that hasn’t yet been disbursed through Xcoal’s intermediary, PNC Bank.[4]
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.[5]
Executive Team
Accessed March 2009: [6]
- James E. Rohr - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
- Joseph C. Guyaux - President
- William S. Demchak - Senior Vice Chairman
- Richard J. Johnson - Chief Financial Officer
- Anuj Dhanda - Chief Information Officer
- Michael J. Hannon - Chief Risk Officer
- Helen P. Pudlin - General Counsel
- Joan L. Gulley - Chief Human Resources Officer
- Timothy G. Shack - Chairman, PNC Global Investment Servicing and Vice Chairman of The PNC Financial Services Group
- Thomas K. Whitford - Vice Chairman and Chief Administrative Officer
Directors
Accessed March 2009: [7]
- Richard O. Berndt - Managing Partner, Gallagher Evelius & Jones LLP (law firm)
- Charles E. Bunch - Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, PPG Industries, Inc. (coatings, sealants and glass products)
- Paul W. Chellgren - Operating Partner, SPG Partners, LLC (private equity)
- Robert N. Clay - President and Chief Executive Officer, Clay Holding Company (investments)
- George A. Davidson, Jr. - Retired Chairman, Dominion Resources, Inc. (public utility holding company)
- Kay Coles James - President & Founder, The Gloucester Institute (non-profit)
- Richard B. Kelson - Operating Advisor, Pegasus Capital Advisors, L.P. (private equity)
- Bruce C. Lindsay - Chairman and Managing Member, 2117 Associates, LLC (advisory company)
- Anthony A. Massaro - Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (full-line manufacturer of welding and cutting products)
- Jane G. Pepper - President, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (non-profit membership organization)
- James E. Rohr - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.
- Donald J. Shepard - Chairman of the Executive Board and Chief Executive Officer, AEGON N.V. (insurance)
- Lorene K. Steffes - Independent Business Advisor and Consultant
- Dennis F. Strigl - President and Chief Operating Officer, Verizon Communications Inc. (telecommunications)
- Stephen G. Thieke - Retired Chairman, Risk Management Committee of JP Morgan Incorporated (financial and investment banking services)
- Thomas J. Usher - Chairman, Marathon Oil Corporation (oil and gas industry)
- George H. Walls, Jr. - Former Chief Deputy Auditor of the State of North Carolina
- Helge H. Wehmeier - Retired President and Chief Executive Officer, Bayer Corporation (healthcare, crop protection and chemicals)
Resources and articles
Related GEM.wiki articles
References
- ↑ 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
- ↑ "PNC Bank Will No Longer Fund Mountain Top Removal" Brad Johnson, ThinkProgress, November 10, 2010.
- ↑ "Mine issue raised at PNC meeting," Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 27, 2011.
- ↑ Max Ehrenfreund, "Environmentalists sue Export-Import Bank over loan guarantee to domestic coal broker," WaPo, July 31, 2-13.
- ↑ "Protesters Speak Out Against Investments in Mountaintop Removal at 15 PNC Bank Branches" EcoWatch, December 2, 2012.
- ↑ Executive Team, PNC Financial Services Group, accessed March 2, 2009.
- ↑ Directors, PNC Financial Services Group, accessed March 2, 2009.
External links
- ^ About Us - PNC Corporate Profile. Undated, accessed May 12, 2006.
- ^ Fred Barbash, "Riggs Bank Sold to PNC Financial Services Group", Washington Post, July 16, 2004.
