JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon clashes with Dem rep over Russia investments
Dimon objected to Sherman using the term 'loophole' regarding sanctions on Russia
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JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon faced questioning from the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday during a hearing titled, "Holding Megabanks Accountable," but an exchange with a Democratic committee member turned tense when the congressman did not want to hear what Dimon had to say.
Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., first recalled that a Politico report from March said that Dimon was going to consider removing Russia from JPMorgan’s ESG fund suite, which focuses on environmental, social and corporate governance. Sherman asked if JPMorgan had indeed removed Russia from the fund suite.
"Probably," Dimon responded. When asked if he could find out and get back to the committee, Dimon said, "Happy to do it."
Moving on to U.S. sanctions on Russia, Sherman noted that there is a loophole where subsidiaries of U.S. corporations are not legally bound by them. Sherman asked if Dimon will "exploit that loophole," then more specifically asked if the company would cut ties with Russian firm Gazprom and independent oil trading company Vitol, which trades in Russian oil.
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JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon clashes with Dem rep over Russia investments
Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., grills JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Sept. 21, 2022.
Dimon took issue with the premise of Sherman’s question.
"First of all, I wouldn’t call those loopholes," he said, but before he could elaborate, Sherman cut him off and said he did not ask him "to respond to my editorialization," just the question about the Russian companies.
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"We are following the instructions of the American government as they asked us to do it," Dimon said.
Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, attends a House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington on Sept. 21, 2022. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"It’s a yes or no question," Sherman said before the congressman stated that JPMorgan has not cut ties with those companies.
"Do you continue to own a major stake in the Russian bank, SberBank?" he next asked, to which Dimon replied, "No, we do not own a stake in SberBank," while noting that it is "in a mutual fund somewhere."
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Sherman then tried to move on to questioning another witness on the panel, but Dimon wanted to keep going.
"Can I just add one other thing?" he asked.
"Not on my time, you can’t," Sherman shot back.
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Dimon tried to keep going only for Sherman to yell, "Reclaiming my time, Mr. Dimon." Committee chairwoman Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., backed him up, and Dimon remained silent.
"You can do a press conference afterwards and comment as you like," Sherman added. "Not on my time."