Feb 2, 2017 - Seattle City Council Committee Votes to Send Ordinance to Divest from Wells Fargo to Full Council for Vote

Seattle, WA Today, the City of Seattle Affordable Housing, Neighborhoods and Finance committee voted unanimously to send an ordinance to the full City council for vote to divest and end its banking relationship with Wells Fargo.

If passed, the socially responsible banking ordinance would end Seattle’s $3 billion relationship with Wells Fargo due, in part, to its finical backing of the Dakota Access pipeline. Wells Fargo currently handles the city’s employee payroll.

Wells Fargo is one of the largest financial backers of the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) having invested nearly $500,000,000 in project-level loans and revolving credit. Additionally, Wells Fargo also has a history of profiting from racially discriminatory practices. In 2011, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) launched an investigation of Wells Fargo for alleged violations of misconduct with regard to race. They are also an investor in the GEO Group, Inc., a for-profit private prison which has been linked to numerous cases of violence and atrocious conditions.

The socially responsible banking ordinance, which was proposed by LRI’s Matt Remle and originally sponsored by council member Kshama Sawant, will now go before the full Seattle City council for vote on February 6th.

Photo’s from Seattle committee vote on socially responsible banking ordinance.