Dubious green funds are rampant in America

easy being green. In November Amundi, Europe’s largest investment manager, downgraded most of its €45bn ($47bn) of funds ranked Article 9, the highest grade in the ’s sustainability disclosures, to Article 8, or “light green”. New regulations are forcing many others to recast their wares in less virtuous colours. Nearly one-tenth of all Article 9 funds have left the category since the European Commission tightened its criteria, in July. That has exposed European fund managers to accusations of greenwashing, and for some the label is deserved. But published this week in the , an academic journal, suggests American firms are doing worse. When it comes to sustainable investing, Wall Street stalwarts appear to run a fully fledged laundromat of exaggerated sales pitches and bogus claims.