For Immediate Release Contact: Michael Drohan – 412-818-2131
April 16, 2024 [email protected]


Protest at PNC Annual Shareholders Meeting – Wed., April 24, 2024, 10 AM - Noon
Press Conference: 10:30 AM in Front of PNC Headquarters,
300 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA


Supporters of the PNC Stop Banking the Bomb Campaign, Pittsburgh Anti-War Committee, Veterans for Peace, the Pittsburgh BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanctions) Coalition, Pittsburgh Area Pax Christi, and the Association of Pittsburgh Priests will gather in front of the PNC National Headquarters in downtown Pittsburgh on Wed., April 24 from 10:00 AM - noon to protest PNC’s policies that allow it to invest in companies that manufacture weapons, some of which are now being used in the war on Gaza and in companies (some of whom are the same) that manufacture nuclear weapons, while the annual PNC shareholders meeting is held virtually. (The companies involved with nuclear weapons production are building key components for nuclear weapons or are otherwise contributing to nuclear weapon development, testing, manufacture, possessions, stockpiling or use: acts that are all prohibited under the Treaty on the Prohibition of nuclear weapons (TPNW)).


The international campaign of Stop Banking the Bomb (SBTB) was founded to encourage those who hold the purse strings and finance nuclear weapons, to change their policies and stop investing in companies that manufacture nuclear weapons. In the Pittsburgh area, PNC is the bank with the largest portfolio (lender, underwriter, share and bond holding) to these companies involved in manufacturing of nuclear weapons: close to $4.49 billion. More information about these investments has been compiled by PAX (www.paxforpeace.nl).


The Pittsburgh SBTB campaign started with PNC. The Nobel Peace Prize winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) has put together an important document that gives 11 answers to common questions about nuclear weapons. For more detail, see the full report at https://www.dontbankonthebomb.com/untenable-investments/ website. The SBTB campaign believes if PNC divests of its financial holdings in companies involved with the manufacture of nuclear weapons (it is the fifth largest bank in the U.S.), it will send a powerful message to the U.S. government and the whole banking world.


This year at the PNC Shareholders meeting on Wed., April 24, 2024 the Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic and others have a resolution before the PNC shareholders. The resolution reads:
“Resolved: Shareholders request the Board of Directors prepare a report, at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information, explaining how PNC’s risk management systems ensure effective implementation of its Human Rights Statement in existing and proposed general corporate and project financing.” The report requested by the resolution will enable investors to assess the effectiveness of PNC’ s screening tools and questionnaires to mitigate human rights impacts throughout it lending portfolio. (More info about the resolution can be found at: https://iasj.org/wp-content/uploads/PNC-2024-Shareholder-Proposal-FINAL-1.pdf



This year’s efforts of the SBTB coincide with the war and human-made famine in Gaza. PNC’s investments/loans to companies manufacturing weapons being used in the killing of tens of thousands of civilians including over 14,000 children implicates them, along with the U.S. government that is supplying many of these weapons of war.


Humanity, at this crucial moment in history, stands in grave peril as we are threatened with extinction from the possible use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine and Middle East. The Doomsday Clock is now set at 90 seconds to midnight. (According to the “Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists”)


Since the SBTB Campaign started, thousands of people have learned of PNC’s financial involvement with nuclear weapons manufacturers, many have signed a petition calling for PNC divestment in these companies (www.abetterpncbank.org), some have registered their concerns and demands with PNC, and others have closed their PNC accounts.


For more information, go to the SBTB Campaign Facebook page @StopBankingTheBomb. # # #