November 2, 2012 

For Immediate Release

For information contact:  Peter Cervantes-Gautschi, (503) 705-3343, [email protected]

WELLS FARGO PRIVATE PRISON DIVESTMENT

CORRECTION

In an earlier press release we erroneously stated that Wells Fargo divested 75% of its Geo stock. We regret the error.

The latest SEC filings reveal that Wells Fargo has divested 33% of its dispositive holdings in the Geo Group, the nation’s second largest private prison company, which reduces Wells Fargo’s holdings to 4.98% of Geo Group’s common stock.

The National Private Prison Divestment Campaign noted that by reducing its holdings to less than 5% of GEO’s stock, Wells Fargo will no longer be required to disclose some financial dealings with GEO. Other SEC filings have revealed that Wells Fargo is the creditors’ Trustee for a $300 million GEO senior bond debt.

According to its current annual report, Geo Group, the nation’s second largest private prison company, depends on the incarceration of immigrants to meet its revenue goals.  The company is a major contributor to federal political campaigns and lobbying efforts impacting budgets of the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice.

Peter Cervantes-Gautschi, Executive Director of Enlace, the campaign convener, congratulated Wells Fargo on its well-advised decision to dump the private prison stock and called on the financial industry giant to rid itself of the rest of its private prison holdings and to cease financing private prison companies.

Both GEO and the nation’s largest private prison company, Corrections Corporation of America, depend heavily on Wells Fargo financing as they continue efforts to acquire government contracts to build, fill and manage immigrant detention centers and other private prisons.

For further information on Wells Fargo’s ties to immigrant detentions in private prisons go to:

http://www.npa-us.org/files/wells_fargo_-_banking_on_immigrant_detention_0.pdf