AMGOA Staff
Pennsylvania


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The head of New York's giant state pension has asked the leaders of Visa, Mastercard, and some of the biggest Wall Street banks to take steps to crack down on gun purchases made through the financial system, according to a letter obtained by The Post.

State Comptroller Thomas J. DiNapoli sent letters to nine different financial institutions asking them to consider "implementing a system that could reject the purchases" of guns and ammunition, according to a letter sent to Mastercard.

Other letters were sent to JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Discover, American Express, First Data, and Worldpay, a spokesman for DiNapoli told The Post.

The New York state pension, the nation's third-largest with $209.1 billion in assets, has stakes in all those companies.

The letter, which references the shootings in Parkland, Fla, and Sandy Hook, claims that the companies need to address how mass shootings can hurt the reputations and stock prices of companies that allow people to buy guns.

"I am writing to express my concern that Mastercard may suffer reputational harm because it allows its banking services to be used in firearms transactions," DiNapoli wrote.

https://nypost.com/2018/04/04/dinapoli-urges-banks-credit-companies-to-crack-down-on-gun-sales