JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has refuted claims of debanking customers due to their religious or political beliefs, asserting that he has been advocating for changes to debanking regulations for over a decade.
In an interview with Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” on Sunday, Dimon stated that his bank has discontinued services for individuals from diverse backgrounds, but political affiliations have never played a role.
Devin Nunes, chair of the President’s intelligence advisory board and CEO of Trump Media, claims that JPMorgan debanked his company, which was one of over 400 Trump-affiliated individuals and organizations to have their banking records subpoenaed by special counsel Jack Smith during an investigation.
Jack Mallers, CEO of the Bitcoin Lightning Network payments firm Strike, also accused JPMorgan of shutting down his personal accounts without explanation last month, raising concerns about a potential recurrence of Operation Chokepoint 2.0.
Houston Morgan, marketing chief at non-custodial crypto trading platform ShapeShift, shared a similar experience in November.
“People need to mature and stop fabricating stories,” Dimon remarked. “While I can’t discuss individual accounts, we do not debank individuals based on their religious or political affiliations,” he reiterated.
“We do debank them, but not because of their religious or political beliefs. We have debanked individuals from both the Democratic and Republican parties, as well as people of various faiths. However, that has never been the reason for those actions.”
Dimon advocates for change in debanking regulations
For years, crypto companies have faced account closures and denials of banking services, with many attributing these actions to a policy-driven agenda aimed at stifling the digital asset sector.
Nonetheless, Dimon expressed his discontent with debanking practices and his desire for changes to the rules regarding reporting requirements that could lead to debanking.
“I commend the Trump administration for recognizing that debanking is detrimental and for seeking to reform the rules. For the past 15 years, I have been advocating for such changes. So let’s make it happen.”
“This is incredibly unwelcoming for customers, and we’re debanking individuals based on suspicious activities, negative media coverage, or various other factors,” Dimon stated.
In August, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order instructing banking regulators to probe the debanking claims from the crypto sector and conservative individuals.
JPMorgan provided recommendations to mitigate debanking: Dimon
Dimon mentioned that one regulation banks must adhere to involves sharing information with the government upon being subpoenaed; however, he claims that JPMorgan has put forth suggestions to minimize reporting and debanking occurrences.
Related: Republicans call for action on market structure legislation amid debanking allegations
“We don’t supply information to the government merely upon request. We comply with subpoenas as mandated by the court. I’ve been adhering to subpoenas from this administration, as well as the past several administrations, and I disagree with many aspects of it,” Dimon remarked.
“The government implements numerous policies that can irritate banks. Let’s take a moment to breathe and address the issues, rather than placing blame on those in the situation,” he continued.
At the same time, Dimon acknowledged that both political parties are equally guilty of pressuring banks.
“Both Democratic and Republican administrations have targeted us; let’s not pretend this is a one-sided issue. This has been an ongoing concern for quite some time. We should stop the militarization of government in this regard.”
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