Watchdog group accuses Bank of America CEO of using bank as ‘political club’ against Americans

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Conservative non-profit and corporate watchdog Consumers’ Research has launched a new campaign targeting Bank of America for forcing its "ideologically-driven agenda on the American people."

The campaign – which features two national TV ads, billboards in major U.S. cities, including one in Times Square, and a website mimicking Bank of America’s own – accuses the "mega bank" of "ESG fanaticism, which puts politics ahead of its customers."

Consumers’ Research, which describes itself as a "nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase the knowledge and understanding of issues, policies, products, and services of concern to consumers and to promote the freedom to act on that knowledge," has defined ESG on its website.

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A conservative non-profit has launched an ad campaign targeting Bank of America for progressive policies it claims are undermining America. (AP2013)

It explained, "ESG stands for Environmental, Social, Governance and is used as an investment strategy to ‘encourage’ organizations to ‘act responsibly.’ ESG works by analyzing organizations across three criteria — their environmental footprint, their stance on social issues, and internal corporate governance."

The entry claimed that "political activists use ESG as a way to drive a progressive agenda and ideological allies in the business community help push this agenda through economic coercion and ignoring democratic processes."

In a statement for the ad campaign, Consumers’ Research Executive Director Will Hild claimed, "We are putting Bank of America on notice. CEO Brian Moynihan has wielded the United States’ second-largest bank like a political club. Under his watch, the bank has brought China’s social credit system to American soil by using arbitrary ESG metrics to potentially lock individuals and businesses out of key banking services."

Hild also accused the bank of having "helped build the Chinese Communist Party, investing billions of American dollars into China to help facilitate its rise." He added, "They can call themselves Bank of America, but the truth is that Moynihan and his crew have been working to undermine America at every turn."

A Consumers’ Report email shared with Fox News Digital further described the importance of its campaign, stating, "This launch comes at a time when Bank of America and other major banks are attacking American values and using access to capital to help force a political agenda, much like asset management firm BlackRock."

It declared, "The campaign is part of the ongoing Consumers First Initiative, a multi-million dollar campaign focused on calling out companies who have chosen to put activist politics ahead of their consumers."

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A Consumers' Research billboard targeting Bank of America featured in Times Square, New York City and San Francisco. (Consumers' Research)

One of the campaign’s 30-second TV ads listed the progressive initiatives that Bank of America has promoted in recent years. It claimed, "They’re funding abortions, demanding Americans comply with their woke climate agenda, they teach people that the U.S. is a system of White supremacy, while stripping away your Second Amendment rights. A California Democrat? No, it’s Bank of America under CEO Brian Moynihan."

The ad cited several mainstream media articles from the past five years detailing these progressive initiatives. For example, it referenced a Reuters article from 2022 reporting that the bank would cover travel costs for employees needing to travel out of state to get an abortion in the wake of Roe V. Wade’s demise.

The ad also cited Fortune.com’s 2018 piece covering how the bank has moved to end business with certain gun manufacturers. 

Bank of America has also been the subject of a congressional investigation in light of allegations that it "voluntarily" turned over a list of January 6 rioters who made transactions near the Capitol around the time of the riot to the FBI.

Hild’s statement continued with criticism for the bank’s supposed leftward lurch, stating, "Their multibillion dollar lobbying efforts helped stagnate our economy and crippled domestic energy production at the behest of the UN’s climate cartel known as the Net Zero Alliance. They also went full woke, forcing employees to endure ‘DEI’ training that denigrated the United States as racist and challenged employees to confront their ‘White Privilege.’"

The bank has previously denied claims that it was forcing "DEI" training on employees. In a quote provided to Fox Business in 2021, Bank of America spokesman Bill Haldin said, "This was not our program and not our training materials. The United Way ran this program independent of Bank of America, and it is not part of our training material."

Hild's statement concluded, "Bank of America simply does not have America’s best interests at heart."

A Consumers' Research billboard targeting Bank of America featured in Lubbock, Texas and Northern Virginia. (Consumers' Research)

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Bank of America for comment on these claims. The bank provided a statement, saying, "Bank of America’s focus on responsible growth is how we deliver industry-leading service to our 68 million American consumers, being a great place to work for our employees and supporting communities across the United States while delivering strong returns for our shareholders."