Bank of Oklahoma (BOK Financial)

Rating Overview

Bank of Oklahoma (BOK Financial) is Medium Risk.

BOK Financial Corporation often yields to political activism in shaping corporate governance, potentially alienating consumers, dividing employees, and harming shareholders. The company implements race and identity-based policies that replace merit, excellence, and integrity with preferential treatment and outcomes. BOK Financial occasionally embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues at times. This approach fails to safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise.

Rating Criteria

Corporate Weaponization Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Cancellations	Medium Risk
Discriminatory Philanthropy	High Risk
Employment Protection	High Risk

Corporate Weaponization ⓘ

Corporate Governance and Public Policy Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Advocacy Bias	High Risk
Funding	Medium Risk
Political Actions	Lower Risk

Corporate Governance and Public Policy ⓘ

Rating Criteria Detail

Criteria Risk Level Rationale

Corporate Weaponization

Criteria:

Has canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level:

Medium

Rationale:

BOK Financial integrates ESG into all of its business practices. Its commitment to ESG and social justice extends “well beyond the typical corporate commitments” in “both size and scope” (1). However, the company has not publicly canceled business relationships based on political views or religious beliefs (2).

Criteria:

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

BOK Financial will not fund “Religious organizations promoting a specific doctrine” (1).

Criteria:

Employment policies fail to protect against viewpoint or other discrimination and/or are ideological in nature.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

BOK appears to prioritize diversity over merit in its recruitment, supply chain, and mentorship program. From its ESG Review: “Build out our diverse supplier program with the goal of increasing the percentage of the company’s spend with small businesses and minority-owned vendors and suppliers. Build a diverse supplier mentor program to assist with best practices, financial education, diversity training and recruiting, and information on how to get financial assistance” (1). The company requires its managers to take unconscious bias training (2). The company offers diversity training to its employees (3). The company does not provide viewpoint protection for its employees (4).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

Uses corporate reputation to support causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

BOK Financial committed to recruiting more LGBTQ+ individuals and joined DiversityJobs in 2021 to connect to more members of the LGBTQ+ community (1). The company’s CEO, Stacy Kymes signed the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion pledge, which includes a commitment to promote DEI through bias education training in the workplace (2)(3). The company supports DEI within its business practices, hosting a DEI Council (4). The company supports DEI within its business practices. From its ESG Review: “Recognizing, respecting and leveraging diversity is central to our company. We view this approach not only as a good business practice, but simply as the right thing to do for all employers” (5). The company supports DEI within its business practices. From its ESG Review: “We emphasize our ESG goals with our employees and encourage them to engage in driving initiatives supporting the spectrum—environmental, social and governance” (6).

Criteria:

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

Medium

Rationale:

BOK Financial is a Corporate Member of the Mid-America LGBT Chamber of Commerce (1)(2). Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of the company using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (3).

Criteria:

Uses corporate political actions and/or financial contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level:

Lower

Rationale:

BOK Financial has not used its PAC donations for ideological purposes and does not engage in lobbying at this time (1)(2)(3).