Environmentalists showed up at PNC Financial Services Group’s annual shareholders meeting again Tuesday, but instead of carrying protest signs, they were armed with kudos.
“We gratefully acknowledge the change PNC has made” in announcing earlier this year that it would dramatically scale back financing of companies that practice mountaintop removal coal mining, said a representative of the activist group Earth Quaker Action Team.
He said the group, which has been demonstrating at PNC’s annual meetings for several years, would be “ready to spring back into action” if the Pittsburgh-based bank doesn’t fulfill its promise.
The new policy “will be sustained,” CEO William Demchak assured the group, adding, “It’s important that we do that.” PNC has said it made the decision because of environmental and health concerns surrounding the controversial practice.
Also at the meeting, held at One PNC Plaza, Downtown, shareholders approved the re-election of all 13 directors to one-year terms on the board and gave the nod to the company’s executive compensation plan in a “say-on-pay” advisory vote.
Patricia Sabatini: psabatini@post-gazette.com; 412-263-3066.
First Published: April 29, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
