- Issuers at Austin conference discuss laws enacted in 2021
- Two state laws target banks’ policies on guns, fossil fuels
Texas borrowers gathered at an industry conference bemoaned two Republican-backed laws in the state that issuers say have restricted which Wall Street banks they can do business with.
The local officials spoke on a panel Tuesday before a packed room of city representatives, bankers and lawyers at an event hosted by the Bond Buyer in Austin. Several bankers at the conference work at firms that have been ensnared by the laws at various points since they took effect almost three years ago.
“I look around the room, I’m seeing a bunch of bankers, lawyers, prospect vendors that want to knock on the door of all the municipalities up here to do business,” said Vernon Lewis, director of the Treasury Department for the city of Houston. The “person that really needs to be in the room is the attorney general and the comptroller.”
Bloomberg Markets
By Amanda Albright
April 16, 2024