This Week in ESG and Impact Investing

1.  Trump knew he was likely to lose and planned to declare victory. 2.  Trump knew he lost but declared victory anyway.  3.  Trump publicized claims of electoral fraud knowing they were false.   4.  Trump promoted people to publicly lie for him. 5.  Trump made several efforts to overturn the election results. 6.  Trump pressured state officials to alter the election outcome. 7.  Trump tried to use the Dept of Justice to intimidate state election officials. 8.  Trump oversaw a scheme to create fake Electoral College representatives.  9.  Trump pressured the vice-president not to count the electoral votes. 10.  The person who devised the VP plan knew it was illegal. 11.  Trump encouraged armed supporters to stop the certification procedure. 12.  Trump's call to violence was successful. 13.  The vice-president and his security detail feared for their lives. 14.  After the fa...

According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Wells Fargo Bank (WFB) "incorrectly applied loan payments, erroneously imposed certain fees and charges, incorrectly repossessed customers' vehicles, and failed to refund certain unearned fees on debt cancellation products; (ii) with respect to home mortgage servicing, incorrectly denied mortgage loan modifications to certain qualified borrowers; and (iii) with respect to consumer deposit accounts, improperly froze or closed customer accounts, improperly charged certain overdraft fees, and did not always waive monthly account service fees consistent with its disclosures." While CFPB claims to have fined WFB $3.7 billion, a review of the consent order released by the Agency reveals several discrepancies. The average penalty per account totaled $252.35 excluding penalties for mortgage servicing errors. These mortgage errors, while substantially higher, applied to fewer than 3.500 accounts. According to the CFPB, ...

On November 29, the Italian Embassy held a live broadcast on Gen Z's Habits and Tech Tools. (Gen Z begins around 1997 and ends around 2010, so as of 2020, the Generation Z age range is roughly between 10 and 23 years old. Many of the oldest members of Gen Z now make up a significant portion of the workforce. Generation Z is the largest generation in American history and constitutes 27 percent of the country's population.) During the broadcast, a speaker discussed Gen Z's SMS (texting) and consumption habits. (SMS stands for Short Message/Messaging Service, a text messaging service component of most modern cell phones.) The speaker said that she uses SMS with the personality of a prosumer. While Gen Z is emerging as a consumer in various fields, members are actively engaged in professional activities by proudly stating their needs to companies and directly participating in product planning beyond simply consuming what they term "good products." The term "Prosu...

    Sameh Shoukry, president of the COP27 climate summit, receives a standing ovation following a speech during the closing plenary session at the U.N. Climate Summit, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong) At the 27th General Assembly of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( COP27 ), the creation of a fund to compensate developing countries for "loss and damage" due to climate change was approved. COP27 closed on the 20th of November (local time) after adopting the final agreement, the " Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan ," two days after the original closing date. The general meeting was held in Egypt on the African continent, which has been severely damaged by global warming (extreme drought), factors like "adaptation" and "loss and damage" were discussed as the biggest issues between developed and developing countries. At the general meeting, developing countries de...

         As a designated member of the "Gen Z" generation, I recently attended an event put on by The Hill Newspaper focused on my age group - "Gen Z: Writing Their Own Rules" in Washington, D.C. The event focused on young people of the New Millennium and their activities. Among the speakers, there was actually a woman who belonged to Gen Z and she led the discussion quite realistically and honestly. The speaker indicated that "Gen Z is more passionate than any other generation. That's why Gen. Z is interested in politics, economics, and culture, and that's why young people's voices have grown. As an example, the number of political demonstrations has also increased." In contrast, the Gen Z discussant said he was the most sensitive to the way others see him. There is more exposure to social media than any other generation. Perhaps that's why Gen Z said he thought his own space and time should be cherished and protected.   Society has his...

Given the current status of the midterm election, it appears likely, but not certain, that Republicans will control the House. If so, this means Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., currently ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, will  become chairman. Overall, this change will be negative for the country. Regulatory agencies most at risk include the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), given Sen. Elizabeth Warren's role in creating the agency and in light of the fact that an appeals court ruled the CFPB’s funding mechanism  unconstitutional: "A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the design of the CFPB violated the Constitution because it receives funding through the Federal Reserve, rather than appropriations legislation passed by Congress." As a matter of turf, McHenry is likely to support bringing the agency under congressional funding procedures, as broken as these are. We also expect the Securities and Exchange...

It's easy to see that right now, whether it's in politics or in the environment, there is a gap between the visions of the youth and older people. This is not a new phenomenon: these groups have always had different ideas and seen the world differently. However, with all that is going on in our time (climate change and political polarization), these two sets of vision generale some problems. Take climate change for example. There is a clear disconnection between what young people and old people think. Let me explain: young people tend to see the consequences of climate change. This is normal, since they are the ones who will live with these consequences. On the other hand, older people see global warming as less of a problem and tend to be more concerned with a problem closer to them, the economy. They overestimate the importance of the economy to the point of making it a more important than the environment and climate change. This is curious, because usually it is young people...