Vanguard settles multistate antitrust suit over climate activism

Asset management firm Vanguard is paying $29.5 million to multiple states to settle an antitrust lawsuit over its environmental, social, and governance investing goals.

The suit, filed by Texas and a dozen other states, accused Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street of conspiring to raise coal prices by pushing climate activism on to companies supplying the resource. The investment management firms allegedly pressed such companies to adopt green energy policies that would inevitably lead to higher energy prices, thereby violating antitrust laws.