UANI Applauds New York Assembly for Proposing Enhancement of Iran Divestment Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 23, 2013
Contact: Nathan Carleton, [email protected] 
Phone: (212) 554-3296

UANI Applauds New York Assembly for Proposing Enhancement of Iran Divestment Act
New Legislation would Compel Insurers to Divest from Companies Active in Iran

New York, NY - On Tuesday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) applauded New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and his fellow lawmakers for introducing bill A.6855, which would enhance New York's Iran Divestment Act.

A.6855 would prohibit New York insurers from including as "admitted assets" investments in companies active in Iran. Insurers use admitted assets to show solvency.

UANI actively promoted New York's Iran Divestment Act, which passed in January 2012. It barred companies doing business in Iran from contracting with the state of New York.

UANI has urged states to take action to require that insurance companies terminate any investments in companies active in Iran.

Said UANI President, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, who in 2011 wrote the Op-Ed "Time Has Come for States to Take Strong Action on Iran":

We applaud speaker Silver and his colleagues for introducing this bill. This would force insurers to make a choice: divest from Iran, or face the fiduciary consequences of that business. We urge New York lawmakers to pass this legislation, and for Governor Cuomo to sign it into law.

Iran's economy is controlled by a regime that is the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism, a brutal abuser of human rights, and is developing an illegal nuclear weapons program. Any firm, company, or other entity that is doing business in Iran must not be held in good standing by the state of New York.

Seven states, starting with California, have passed Iran debarment legislation, adapted from UANI model legislation. UANI unveiled the "Iran Business Certification Act" in June 2009, which shortly thereafter was introduced in U.S. Congress as the "Accountability for Business Choices in Iran Act."

As the Financial Times reported, California's debarment law, the 2010 Iran Contracting Act, succeeded in pressuring multinational corporations to end their business in Iran. California publishes a list of companies prohibited from doing business with the state due to their work in Iran.

Click here to visit UANI's model legislation home page.
Click here to view UANI's State Certification map.
Click here to read UANI's 2011 letter to New York lawmakers.
Click here to read Ambassador Wallace's 2011 Op-Ed, "Time Has Come for States to Take Strong Action on Iran."    

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