FIRST ON FOX – JPMorgan Chase has agreed to update their code of conduct to protect against religious and political discrimination, in what activists are calling a “major win” in the fight against debanking.
Debanking is the phenomenon in which a bank customer has their accounts canceled, often with no explanation. Conservatives have long alleged that banks were unfairly targeting them in the practice.
As part of the agreement, conservative group Alliance Defending Freedom has withdrawn a shareholder proposal brought by their client, Bowyer Research, calling for JPMorgan to issue a report on the risks associated “related to religious discrimination against employees.” In exchange, the bank has updated their Diversity & Inclusion section of their code of conduct to prohibit discrimination against “religious views,” and included language prohibiting discrimination against customers for their “political opinions.”
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“We do not tolerate discrimination, harassment, or inappropriate or abusive conduct by or against employees, customers, suppliers, contractors, or any other individuals who conduct business or seek to do business with our firm based on race, color, ethnicity, religion, religious affiliation, or religious views, national origin or ancestry, gender, military status, disability, marital or familial status, political opinions, speech or affiliations, age, or any status protected under applicable local law,” the code of conduct now states.
“We regularly engage with our shareholders to address their feedback and educate them on our policies. We are glad we were able to come to an agreement. The amendment to language in our Code of Conduct is consistent with prior public statements,” a JPMorgan Chase spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
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Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Jeremy Tedesco hailed JPMorgan for making the “major policy change,” and claimed debanking “is on the rise.”
“These kind of policy changes at Chase should give customers a lot more hope that if they bank at Chase, their political and religious views won’t be relevant to their ability to have a bank account,” Tedesco, who led negotiations with the bank, told Fox News Digital.
Former U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback claimed that the financial institution canceled the account for his nonprofit, the National Committee for Religious Freedom, shortly after he opened it in 2022.
“We went into a Chase branch in the District of Columbia to open an account. No problem. Then, several weeks later, I went to put another deposit in the account, and they said, ‘Your account has been canceled, we’ll be sending your money back to you,’” Brownback told Fox Business at the time.
Brownback, who also served as governor of Kansas and ambassador-at-large for religious freedom during the first Trump administration, alleged that an employee at Chase offered to reopen his account, but only if he disclosed his donors and which political candidates his organization had plans to endorse in an oped in the Washington Times. The former ambassador told Fox News Digital that Chase’s change in policy represents a “big win.”
“I’m hopeful that Chase’s willingness to adopt these new protections will play a big role in preventing future discrimination at the nation’s largest bank. This is a big win, but we’re far from finished,” Brownback said.
A representative for the bank denied all allegations of debanking in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“We have never and would never close an account for political or religious reasons, period. JPMorganChase serves individuals and industries in all 50 states across all political viewpoints,” the spokesperson said.
President Donald Trump called out JPMorgan for engaging in what he sees as political discrimination at the Davos World Economic Forum in January.
“And I don’t know if the regulators mandated that because of Biden or what, but you and [JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon] and everybody, I hope you’re going to open your banks to conservatives, because what you’re doing is wrong,” Trump said at Davos.
JPMorgan denied they debanked customers and said they would “never close an account for political reasons.”
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