Mizuho - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

Mizuho is High Risk.

Mizuho Group, is High Risk. The company 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. Mizuho Group embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues. This approach fails to safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise.

Rating Criteria

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

Corporate Weaponization ⓘ

Corporate Governance and Public Policy Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Advocacy Bias	High Risk
Funding	High Risk
Political Actions	No Data

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:

High

Rationale:

Mizuho Financial Group agreed to stop financing new coal power projects and ends all loans for coal by 2050, following pressure from climate change activists (1). The company has a procurement policy “urging our suppliers to pursue ESG initiatives in their business operations” (2)(3).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Mizuho will not fund “religious groups” (1)(2)(3).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

Medium

Rationale:

Mizuho Group protects its employees against viewpoint discrimination (1). The company holds mandatory employee unconscious bias training and other DEI trainings and rates managers’ efforts to promote DEI as part of annual personnel evaluations (2).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Mizuho Group has committed to public advocacy for LGBTQ causes, holding a booth at the Tokyo Rainbow Pride festival and displaying ATM messages throughout 2018 and 2019 Pride Weeks “expressing Mizuho’s commitment to being an LGBT ally” (1). Mizuho Securities former CEO, Jerry Rizzieri, 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 is a member of the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials, committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 (4)(5)(6).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Mizuho Americas is a charitable partner of Girls Inc., which advocates for abortion access (1). The company has been a sponsor of the Tokyo Rainbow Pride festival since 2017 (2). Mizuho Group donates to the Worldwide Fund for Nature, which engages in ESG advocacy and climate change activism (3)(4). The company is a corporate partner of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (5).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

N/A

Rationale:

Mizuho Group does not operate a PAC or engage in lobbying at this time (1)(2)(3).