The injection of “woke” factors, including climate impacts, into investment decisions will soon be a thing of the past, said President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Speaking to the Senate Banking Committee, nominee Paul Atkins said he would end SEC practices that support those making investment decisions using environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics.
“I want to get politics out of the financial markets, and out of how the SEC interacts with the financial markets,” Atkins, a former SEC commissioner-turned-industry consultant, said in response to a question from Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.).
“Unfortunately, there were some out there who were using other people’s money to try to influence corporations through the distortions of the corporate governance process and that sort of thing. So that will end,” he added.