Iran Divestiture Proposal Announced by NY State
Comptroller
November 16, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - New York State
Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli last week announced a plan to
divest state retirement funds from companies doing business
in Iran.
According to the Legislative Gazette, the three
phases of the plan are:
-
Identify the companies that the retirement fund
is invested in that have business operations in Iran
related to the energy or defense sectors.
-
Contact the companies identified in Phase I
requesting a description on the companies' business
activities in Iran. They will need to explain how
these activities are consistent with a prudent
long-term investment strategy and report on steps
they have taken to lessen investment risks that occur
by doing business in Iran.
-
Evaluate the response of the companies to
determine if they have taken considerable steps to
minimize the risk to the retirement fund.
DiNapoli said if these steps are not taken, he will
withhold additional or new investments in those companies
and even divest funds from those companies, the
Legislative Gazette reported.
"Iran is supporting terrorism. It's trying to
obtain nuclear weapons, and its president has made public
statements that amount to an incitement to commit
genocide by calling for the destruction of the state of
Israel," DiNapoli said, in the news report. "At some
point we have to ask, can we afford to risk pension fund
investments in a country led by this kind of regime?"
DiNapoli is the sole trustee of the New York state Common
Retirement Fund - the third largest public pension plan
in the country at $154.5 billion.
Rebecca Moore
editors@plansponsor.com