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Exclusive Conservative Investor Withdraws JPMorgan Resolution, Cites Changes Addressing ‘Politicized Finance’
By Ross Kerber
(Reuters) -A conservative shareholder withdrew a resolution put up for vote at JPMorgan’s annual meeting on Tuesday, according to the investor’s representative, who said the move reflects changes the Wall Street bank has made to take more into account. takes into account different points of view.
The JPMorgan meeting was expected to include Proposition 11, a call for the bank to report how the bank’s policies impact employees “based on their religion (including religious views) or political views.”
Jerry Bowyer, a fund consultant representing David Bahnsen, head of the family fund that introduced the resolution, said it was withdrawn in light of several steps taken by the bank that show it is moving away from political testing for clients.
One factor, Bowyer said, was the bank’s decision to drop the requirement that merchants using its WePay service not accept payments linked to risks such as allegations of racism or sexual harassment.
He also cited a note JPMorgan included in a recent climate report stating that it serves clients “regardless of political, social or religious views.”
And Bowyer said the family fund appreciated JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s recent comments, including critical comments about proxy advisors in Dimon’s annual letter to investors.
“These were all positive signs that they recognized politicized finance as a problem,” Bowyer said.
JPMorgan and other global banks have been criticized by conservative activists who accuse them of cutting off customers because of right-wing political views, sometimes referred to as “debanking.” At the same time, other investors have pressured banks to take more social and environmental issues into account.
An archived page shows that as recently as August, merchants using JPMorgan’s WePay service had to agree not to accept payments or use the service in connection with “social risk issues.” The bank defined them as “subject to allegations and impacts related to hate groups, systemic racism, sexual harassment and corporate culture”.
This language no longer appears in WePay’s terms of service.
The Alliance Defending Freedom, which calls itself a Christian law firm, said it first discovered the new language in November. JPMorgan did not immediately say when the text was changed, but said the old text dated back to the WePay purchase that closed in December 2017.
Asked about new language promising to serve customers regardless of their views and other communications that Bowyer said led to the withdrawal of the resolution, a bank representative said the material only reflected long-standing policies.
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“While the language may seem new, the policies and practices are not. We support clients around the world and in every US state, across all industries, religions and political affiliations,” the representative said in an email.
“We have not and would not close an account because of a customer’s political or religious affiliation, and we are making sure to articulate this long-standing policy whenever possible,” the representative added.
Speaking at the bank’s annual meeting on Tuesday, CEO Jamie Dimon made a similar point when responding to an investor’s question. “”We do not discriminate against any agency or individual based on their political beliefs,” Dimon said.
At the meeting, held virtually, investors approved the compensation plans and nominations of JPMorgan’s directors, and did not approve other shareholder proposals.
JPMorgan defended its political neutrality after WePay suspended services to Defense of Freedom in 2021, a Missouri political action committee that planned to organize an event for Donald Trump Jr, the eldest son of the former US president. JPMorgan said at the time that the suspension was a mistake and decided to reinstate the service.
Jeremy Tedesco, senior advisor at Alliance Defending Freedom, said WePay’s move was significant.
“These policies give people a basis to demand that banks cancel services. So eliminating this is not a small thing,” he said.
The Tedesco group plans to publish a new edition of its “Viewpoint Diversity” index on top US companies on Tuesday, criticizing many for having vague or subjective terms of service.
(Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Chizu Nomiyama)