But the American Bankers Association (ABA) has responded by stating that ALEC’s model proposal “undermined the organization’s own commitment to free markets and limited government” and that “government should not be dictating business decisions to the private sector”.
“This bill, while well-intended, had too many unintended consequences that would have hurt our own Bank of North Dakota and other main street banks that do support our state’s [agriculture] and energy businesses,” Rep. Mitch Ostlie, a sponsor of the bill, acknowledged.
“We have a philosophical issue about anytime the government puts together a list,” said Rick Clayburgh, president and CEO of the North Dakota Bankers Association (NDBA), who is now working with lawmakers on a modified version of the bill. “All of a sudden, a local bank could be added to the list, and it leads to the potential for a bank run if people don’t want to do business with that bank, which leads to instability and could shake the underpinning of our entire financial system.”
“A lot of my members have ESG statements,” noted Dax Denton, the chief policy officer of the 116-member-strong Indiana Bankers Association (IBA), who also warned that such statements “could prohibit an institution from being a custodian of the state’s finances as a result of this legislation”
Read Original