MCL 129.291 Short title.
129.291. Short title.
Sec. 1.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the "divestment from terror act".
2008, Act 234, Imd. Eff. July 17, 2008
DIVESTMENT FROM TERROR ACT
MCL ch. 129, subtit. Act 234 of 2008
in effectMCL 129.292 Definitions.
129.292. Definitions.
Sec. 2.
As used in this act:
(a) "Active business operations" means all business operations that are not inactive business operations. Active business operations do not include the activities of any business, legal, or governmental entity or institution that provides humanitarian aid to the people of any state sponsors of terror.
(b) "Business operations" means engaging in commerce in any form with a state sponsor of terror, including by acquiring, developing, maintaining, owning, selling, possessing, leasing, or operating equipment, facilities, personnel, products, services, personal property, real property, or any other apparatus of business or commerce.
(c) "Company" means any sole proprietorship, organization, association, corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability company, or other entity or business association, including all wholly owned subsidiaries, majority-owned subsidiaries, parent companies, or affiliates of those entities or business associations, that exists for profit-making purposes.
(d) "Direct holdings" in a company means all securities of that company held directly by the fiduciary or in an account or fund in which the fiduciary owns all shares or interests.
(e) "Fiduciary" means any of the following:
(i) The Michigan legislative retirement system board of trustees for the Tier 1 retirement plan available under the Michigan legislative retirement system act, 1957 PA 261, MCL 38.1001 to 38.1080.
(ii) The state treasurer for all of the following:
(A) The state police retirement system created under the state police retirement act of 1986, 1986 PA 182, MCL 38.1601 to 38.1675.
(B) The Tier 1 retirement plan available under the judges retirement act of 1992, 1992 PA 234, MCL 38.2101 to 38.2670.
(C) The Tier 1 retirement plan available under the state employees retirement act, 1943 PA 240, MCL 38.1 to 38.69.
(D) The public school employees retirement system created under the public school employees retirement act of 1979, 1980 PA 300, MCL 38.1301 to 38.1437.
(iii) The state treasurer in connection with his or her duties under any of the following:
(A) 1946 (1st Ex Sess) PA 9, MCL 35.602 to 35.610.
(B) 1855 PA 105, MCL 21.141 to 21.147.
(C) Section 7 of the Michigan trust fund act, 2000 PA 489, MCL 12.257.
(D) Children's trust fund under 1982 PA 249, MCL 21.171 to 21.172.
(E) The McCauley-Traxler-Law-Bowman-McNeely lottery act, 1972 PA 239, MCL 432.1 to 432.47.
(F) Section 503b of the natural resources and environmental protection act, 1994 PA 451, MCL 324.503b.
(iv) The board of trustees of a community college subject to the community college act of 1966, 1966 PA 331, MCL 389.1 to 389.195.
(v) The board of directors of the Michigan education trust described in section 10 of the Michigan education trust act, 1986 PA 316, MCL 390.1430.
(vi) The board of the Michigan strategic fund under the Michigan strategic fund act, 1984 PA 270, MCL 125.2001 to 125.2094.
(f) "Inactive business operations" means the mere continued holding or renewal of rights to property previously operated for the purpose of generating revenues but not presently deployed for that purpose.
(g) "Indirect holdings" in a company means all securities of that company held in an account or fund, including a mutual fund or other commingled fund, managed by 1 or more persons not employed by the fiduciary, in which the fiduciary owns shares or interests together with other investors not subject to the provisions of this act.
(h) "Scrutinized company" means, except for a company described in subdivision (i), and for a social development company or a company that only meets the criteria of this subdivision because an independently owned franchisee of that company is a scrutinized company, any company that has business operations that involve contracts with or provision of supplies or services to a state sponsor of terror; companies in which a state sponsor of terror has any direct or indirect equity share, consortiums, or projects commissioned by a state sponsor of terror; or companies involved in consortiums and projects commissioned by a state sponsor of terror and 1 or more of the following:
(i) More than 10% of the company's total revenues or assets are directly invested in or earned from or significantly contributed to a state sponsor of terror and the company has failed to take substantial action.
(ii) The company has, with actual knowledge, made an investment of $20,000,000.00 or more, or any combination of investments of at least $10,000,000.00 each, which in the aggregate equals or exceeds $20,000,000.00 in any 12-month period, and which directly or significantly contributes to a state sponsor of terror, and the company has failed to take substantial action.
(i) A scrutinized company does not mean a company which the United States government has excluded from any present federal sanctions regime relating to a state sponsor of terror, or which has obtained from the United States government an applicable license or approval to conduct a transaction with a state sponsor of terror.
(j) "Social development company" means a company licensed by the United States department of treasury pursuant to the federal trade sanction reform and export enhancement act of 2000, P.L. 106-387, or a company lawfully operating under the laws of another country, whose primary purpose in a state sponsor of terror is to provide humanitarian goods or services including, food, other agricultural products, supplies or infrastructure, clothing, shelter, medicines or medical equipment, educational opportunities, journalism-related activities, information or information materials, spiritual-related activities, general consumer goods, or services of a purely clerical or reporting nature, to aid the inhabitants of a state sponsor of terror.
(k) "State sponsor of terror" means, subject to section 10 as to applicability, any country determined by the United States Secretary of State to have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism.
(l) "Substantial action" means adopting, publicizing, and implementing a formal plan to cease scrutinized business operations within 1 year and to refrain from any new business operations.
2008, Act 234, Imd. Eff. July 17, 2008; Am. 2018, Act 684, Imd. Eff. Dec. 28, 2018
MCL 129.293 Scrutinized companies; identification by fiduciary.
129.293. Scrutinized companies; identification by fiduciary.
Sec. 3.
Within 90 days after the effective date of this act, the fiduciary shall make its best efforts to identify all scrutinized companies in which the fiduciary has direct or indirect holdings or has a current option to have such holdings in the future. The efforts may include 1 or more of the following:
(a) Reviewing and relying, as appropriate in the fiduciary's judgment, on publicly available information regarding companies with business operations in a state sponsor of terror, including information provided by nonprofit organizations, research firms, international organizations, and government entities.
(b) Contacting asset managers contracted by the fiduciary that invest in companies with business operations in a state sponsor of terror.
(c) Contacting other institutional investors that have divested from or engaged with companies that have business operations in a state sponsor of terror.
(d) Reviewing the laws of the United States regarding the levels of business activity that would cause application of sanctions against companies conducting business or investing in countries that are designated state sponsors of terror.
2008, Act 234, Imd. Eff. July 17, 2008
MCL 129.294 Scrutinized companies; assembly into list; modification; procedure to be adhered to by fiduciary.
129.294. Scrutinized companies; assembly into list; modification; procedure to be adhered to by fiduciary.
Sec. 4.
(1) At the end of the 90-day period or by the first meeting of the fiduciary following the 90-day period described in section 3, the fiduciary shall assemble all scrutinized companies identified into a scrutinized companies list.
(2) The fiduciary shall update the scrutinized companies list described in subsection (1) on a quarterly basis based on evolving information from, among other sources, those sources listed in section 3. However, if a fiduciary receives credible information that shows that a scrutinized company was wrongfully identified as a scrutinized company, the fiduciary shall immediately modify the scrutinized company list to remove the name of the scrutinized company.
(3) The fiduciary shall adhere to the following procedure for companies on the scrutinized companies list described in subsection (1):
(a) The fiduciary shall immediately determine the companies on the scrutinized companies list in which the fiduciary oversees pursuant to its responsibilities as described in section 2(e).
(b) For each company identified in subdivision (a) with only inactive business operations, the fiduciary shall send a written notice informing the company of this section and encourage the company to continue to refrain from initiating active business operations in a state sponsor of terror until it is able to avoid scrutinized business operations and further encourage the company to engage in substantial humanitarian operations in the country. The fiduciary shall continue the correspondence on a semiannual basis.
(c) For each company newly identified in subdivision (a) with active business operations, the fiduciary shall send a written notice informing the company of its scrutinized company status and that it may become subject to divestment by the fiduciary. The notice shall offer the company the opportunity to clarify its state sponsor of terror-related activities and shall encourage the company, within 90 days, to either cease its scrutinized business operations or convert such operations to inactive business operations in order to avoid qualifying for divestment by the fiduciary.
(d) If, within 90 days following the fiduciary's first engagement with a company, that company ceases scrutinized business operations, the company shall be removed from the scrutinized companies list and this act shall cease to apply to it unless it resumes scrutinized business operations. If, within 9 months following the fiduciary's first engagement, the company converts its scrutinized active business operations to inactive business operations, the company shall not be subject to this act.
(e) If, after 90 days following the fiduciary's first engagement with a company, if the company has not developed and announced a plan to convert its active business operations to inactive business operations, and only while the company continues to have scrutinized active business operations, the fiduciary shall sell, redeem, divest, or withdraw all publicly traded securities of the company, according to the following schedule:
(i) At least 50% of the assets shall be removed from the fiduciary's assets under management within 9 months after the company's most recent appearance on the scrutinized companies list.
(ii) 100% of the assets shall be removed from the fiduciary's assets under management within 15 months after the company's most recent appearance on the scrutinized companies list.
(f) Except as provided in subdivision (g), at no time shall the fiduciary acquire securities of companies on the scrutinized companies list that have active business operations.
(g) Subdivisions (e) and (f) shall not apply to indirect holdings in actively managed investment funds. For purposes of this section, actively managed investment funds include private equity funds and publicly traded funds. Before the fiduciary invests in a new private equity fund that is not in the fiduciary's portfolio as of the effective date of this act, the fiduciary shall perform due diligence to prevent investment in any private equity fund in violation of this act. The fiduciary is not required to identify holdings in private equity funds or submit engagement letters to those funds. If the manager of a publicly traded, actively managed fund that is in the fiduciary's portfolio on the effective date of this act creates a similar publicly traded, actively managed fund with indirect holdings devoid of identified scrutinized companies with scrutinized active business operations as defined in this act, the fiduciary is not required to, but is strongly encouraged to, replace all applicable investments with investments in the similar fund in an expedited time frame consistent with prudent investment standards.
2008, Act 234, Imd. Eff. July 17, 2008
MCL 129.295 Internet website; collection and publication of information.
129.295. Internet website; collection and publication of information.
Sec. 5.
The department of treasury shall collect and publish the following information on the department's internet website no later than 1 year after the effective date of this act and shall periodically update the information at reasonable intervals:
(a) All investments sold, redeemed, divested, or withdrawn in compliance with this section.
(b) All prohibited investments made under this section.
(c) Any progress made under section 4(3)(g).
2008, Act 234, Imd. Eff. July 17, 2008
MCL 129.296 Exemption from conflicting statutory or common law obligations.
129.296. Exemption from conflicting statutory or common law obligations.
Sec. 6.
(1) With respect to actions taken in compliance with this act, including all good faith determinations regarding companies as required by this act, the fiduciary shall be exempt from any conflicting statutory or common law obligations, including any obligations in respect to choice of asset managers, investment funds, or investments for the fiduciary's securities portfolios.
(2) The fiduciary, members of an investment advisory committee, and any person with decision-making authority with regard to investments of the fiduciary shall not be held liable for any action undertaken for the purpose of complying with or executing the mandates required under this act.
2008, Act 234, Imd. Eff. July 17, 2008
MCL 129.297 Severability.
129.297. Severability.
Sec. 7.
If any provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is found to be invalid, illegal, unenforceable, or unconstitutional, the same is hereby declared to be severable and the balance of this legislation shall remain effective and functional notwithstanding such invalidity, illegality, unenforceability, or unconstitutionality.
2008, Act 234, Imd. Eff. July 17, 2008
MCL 129.298 Business with Sudan; fiduciary subject to provisions of public employee retirement system investment act.
129.298. Business with Sudan; fiduciary subject to provisions of public employee retirement system investment act.
Sec. 8.
If a scrutinized company does business with the government of Sudan and the fiduciary is subject to the divestment provisions of section 13c of the public employee retirement system investment act, 1965 PA 314, MCL 38.1133c, for that period of time the fiduciary shall follow the divestment criteria contained in section 13c of the public employee retirement system investment act, 1965 PA 314, MCL 38.1133c, and not the divestment provisions of this act.
2008, Act 234, Imd. Eff. July 17, 2008
MCL 129.299 Business with Iran; fiduciary subject to provisions of public employee retirement system investment act.
129.299. Business with Iran; fiduciary subject to provisions of public employee retirement system investment act.
Sec. 9.
If a scrutinized company does business with the government of Iran and the fiduciary is subject to the divestment provisions of section 13d of the public employee retirement system investment act, 1965 PA 314, MCL 38.1133d, for that period of time the fiduciary shall follow the divestment criteria contained in section 13d of the public employee retirement system investment act, 1965 PA 314, MCL 38.1133d, and not the divestment provisions of this act.
2008, Act 234, Imd. Eff. July 17, 2008
MCL 129.300 Applicability of act; dates; extension.
129.300. Applicability of act; dates; extension.
Sec. 10.
(1) If a state sponsor of terror is any of the following countries, then, except as provided in subsection (2), the provisions of this act begin to apply on the following dates:
(a) Syria, January 1, 2010.
(b) Cuba, January 1, 2011.
(c) Any other country, 12 months following the determination by the United States secretary of state.
(2) The state treasurer may extend, not more than 2 times, 1 or more of the dates in which the provisions of this act apply that are described in subsection (1) for 1 year if the state treasurer determines 1 or more of the following:
(a) The constitutionality of the divestment provisions of this act are in conflict with federal law.
(b) The department of treasury is not able to gather sufficient information to prepare an accurate scrutinized companies list.
2008, Act 234, Imd. Eff. July 17, 2008
MCL 129.301 Divestment of funds; recommendations of department of treasury.
129.301. Divestment of funds; recommendations of department of treasury.
Sec. 11.
Not later than October 1, 2010 and October 1, 2011, and not later than 9 months immediately following the determination of another country as a state sponsor of terror, the department of treasury shall make recommendations to each house of the legislature and to the standing committees of the senate and house of representatives having jurisdiction over issues pertaining to divestment of state funds on what statutory changes are needed to improve the effectiveness of this act and whether the department of treasury has extended or will extend 1 or more of the dates provided in section 10(1) and the reason for that extension as described in section 10(2).
2008, Act 234, Imd. Eff. July 17, 2008
Source: Michigan Legislature (legislature.mi.gov)URL: https://legislature.mi.gov/documents/mcl/Chapter%20129.xmlFetched: 10/20/2026