Last week, the New York State pension fund said it was divesting more than $86 million in holdings from nine companies doing business in Sudan and Iran, including Wartsila Oyj.
"We don't expect our investments to benefit regimes that support genocide and terrorism," said New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.
When Wynn left Congress to join the lobbying firm, he was criticized in part because it forced taxpayers to pay the cost of a special election to choose a replacement, estimated at the time at $500,000 or more. Wynn said his decision to quit early enabled his successor to get a head start on seniority in the House.
Wynn, who represented Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Congress, is representing Wartsila on energy and nuclear issues, according to the disclosure report. Energy legislation is among the most lucrative lobbying bonanzas in Washington this year, as Democrats attempt to curb greenhouse gas emissions and special interests try to bend the proposed new law to their benefit.
Wynn's unusual decision to resign before his term was up, the month after becoming a lame duck, had echoes in Sarah Palin's surprise move to step down as governor of Alaska. Palin did so upon deciding not to see re-election next year.
As the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, Palin announced that she would divest her holding in a mutual fund from Legg Mason Inc. of Baltimore, after being informed that it owned shares in Wartsila Oyj.
Palin held shares worth less than $15,000 in the Legg Mason International Equity fund, which, according to a 2008 Securities and Exchange Commission filing, reported that about 1 percent of the equity holdings of a parent fund were in Wartsila stock.
