Florida State Board of Administration, Tallahassee, could divest more than $1 billion in companies it has identified as having with ties to Sudan or Iran’s petroleum sector, according to a statement by Attorney General Bill McCollum, a member of the board of trustees of the $184 billion fund. As first reported Wednesday afternoon on Pensions & Investments’ website, pionline.com, the board approved a list of the companies it will scrutinize for potential divestment over the next 12 months, the timetable set in a state divestment statute enacted in June.
FSBA identified 27 companies — including Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Norsk Hydro, Statoil and Petrobras — with ties to Iran and 57 companies with ties to Sudan.
Institutional Shareholder Services, KLD Research and Analytics, Sudan Divestment Task Force and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee are assisting with the lists.
FSBA will have to divest if the companies “do not cease the prohibited activities or take certain compensating actions,” according to a board report released Wednesday. The law affects only foreign companies with certain business operations in Sudan and Iran involving the petroleum or other energy sector or military support activities, the report said. Investments in U.S. companies aren’t affected.
Regardless of the companies’ responses, the board can cease divestment when the value of the total assets of the $134 billion Florida Retirement System Trust Funds, which the FSBA oversees, falls by at least 50 basis points or $689 million, as a result of divestment, the report said.
