Jan. 12, 2024
I am urging the SEC to NOT allow the NYSE to list “Natural Asset Companies” or NACs, pursuant to File No. SR-NYSE-2023-09. The continued efforts to financialize productive natural resources to subvert the legal system, to pervert the capital markets, and to cause harmful outcomes for both investors and the US alike cannot be enabled. It is clear that from an investor protection perspective, NACs bastardize the capital markets for a political objective. The use of GAAP accounting within NAC financial reporting, establishing separate accounting measures to be used within the financial markets raises too many red flags to count and should be immediately disqualifying. NACs seek to use others’ money, including that obtained via the capital markets, to buy the ability to control or “manage” productive public and private land and other natural resources. Their stated purpose in doing so is not to make a profit or to be productive, but rather to protect, conserve, restore and preserve these natural “assets”, based on whatever their own definitions of those activities are. The focus on the SEC is protecting investors. NACs allow investor money, particularly those deployed through entities that they may not control, such as pension funds, for example, to be used to decommission resources and make them non-productive for political means. Americans and the SEC cannot allow that to happen. The bad outcomes here will include the subjugation of the fiduciary duty to do what is in the best interest of investors. Critical natural resources will be subject to the consolidation of a handful of wealthy and powerful individuals. And, even more frightening, control of productive resources- as well as our food supply, water, energy, tourism and more- could end up in the hands of foreign nations and their sovereign wealth funds or other bad actors. Do the right thing, and not that which is politically-pushed and elite power-driven; do not allow NACs to access our capital markets via NYSE listings or otherwise. Thank you.