JPMorgan chief tackles ESG response
Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, said Wednesday that he will now “pull back” on Texas’ efforts in 2021 to limit the state’s dealings with financial firms that embrace environmental, social and governance policies.
Texas passed two laws in 2021 that limit the state’s work with banks that regulators determine limit their work in the energy and firearms industries. JPMorgan has spent much of 2022 on the sidelines of municipal bond underwriting in the state.
Mr. Dimon has called Texas laws bad for business and highlighted the work the bank does to finance schools, hospitals and other businesses.
“I don’t know exactly why they’re mad at us and they’ll probably reconsider that at some point,” Mr. Dimon said at the DealBook summit in Manhattan.
Mr. Dimon also discussed a wide range of topics, including the economy, geopolitics and Elon Musk. He expanded on previous comments he had made, calling our current moment one of the most dangerous in decades. The greatest risks to humanity, he said, are “nuclear proliferation, climate change and a new pandemic.”
“We should not be complacent,” Mr. Dimon said. “The world is always a dangerous place. We just forgot.”
Mr. Dimon said his other concerns included what would happen if China invaded Taiwan — a move he said would trigger a “great depression” — and wasteful U.S. government spending, which he likened to “drugs delivered directly into are injected into our system’.
When asked about the bank’s relationship with TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, which several states have tried to ban over its Chinese ties, Mr. Dimon said that while the bank did not comment on customer relations, it did a thorough check had carried out.
He said that if customers did “things that we think are really bad,” JPMorgan wouldn’t bank them.
On politics, Mr. Dimon said he even urged “very liberal Democrats” to help Republican candidate Nikki Haley. He did not take the position that the nominee should be someone other than Donald Trump.
“He could be the president,” Mr. Dimon said. “I have to deal with that too.”
Mr. Dimon was also asked about the bank’s lawsuit against Elon Musk over a 2018 tweet. “We will win,” Mr. Dimon said of the lawsuit.