BlackRock would scrutinise how companies planned to use the cash they brought back to the US as part of a tax holiday backed by US President Donald Trump, CEO Larry Fink said in a letter distributed on Tuesday. During his election campaign, Trump backed a policy of cutting taxes on cash that countries repatriate as a way to entice them to invest their overseas money in the US. Companies such as Apple, Pfizer and Microsoft hold nearly $1.8 trillion overseas, Moody’s Investors Service estimated last month. By doing so, they avoid a 35% US corporate tax rate. But Fink said the tax cuts might do little to boost economic growth as investors piled the cash into buying their shares back or paying a dividend, boosting their stock prices, but not hiring new employees or growing their businesses. BlackRock oversees $5.1 trillion in assets, ranking as a top shareholder of many of the world’s largest companies. It votes on the composition of those companies’ boards as well as on governance prop...
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