Citigroup Inc’s Jane Fraser was forced to answer if her bank would pull business from China if its military invaded Taiwan. Jamie Dimon was pressed on whether JPMorgan Chase & Co would cut ties with Russian firms.
Lawmakers seized on recent political tensions and hot-button social issues in a hearing with the CEOs of the US’ largest retail banks on Wednesday.
Representatives on the US House of Representatives Financial Services Committee probed them on everything from the escalation of the Ukraine conflict and racial equity to fossil-fuel financing and their role in slavery.
Photo: Reuters
“Of course there are concerns, there are disagreements, but that’s how democracy works,” US Representative Maxine Waters, who chairs the committee, said during the six-and-a-half-hour hearing. “We have a lot of work that we must continue as we interact with each other to do the people’s business.”
The breadth of questions served as a reminder of the expansive reach of megabanks, as Waters called them.
They also came as the US economy faces a precarious position, with inflation running at decade-highs, raising the specter of recession. The CEOs were forced to discuss their firms’ approach to helping consumers deal with soaring prices and rising US recession risks.
Dimon, CEO of the biggest US bank, said consumers are in great shape now, but acknowledged there is a chance of a mild recession, which geopolitical events could exacerbate.
Brian Moynihan, Bank of America Corp’s CEO, said consumers have more money in their accounts than ever, but acknowledged that inflation and unemployment are working against them.
The CEOs’ comments came shortly before the Fed raised interest rates by 75 basis points for the third consecutive time on Wednesday afternoon, and forecast they would reach 4.6 percent next year.
The executives faced tough questions about their ambitions in China, with lawmakers asking about reports of human rights abuses there and concerns over its approach to Taiwan.
US Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer asked bank executives if an invasion of the nation would prompt them to withdraw business from China.
Citigroup’s Fraser answered in line with other banks, that she would seek US government guidance before making a move.
However, Luetkemeyer wanted to know what she would do if the government said Citigroup could respond how it wanted.
“It’s a hypothetical question, but it’s highly likely that we would have a materially reduced presence if any at all in the country,” Fraser said.
US Representative Brad Sherman, a Democrat, asked for “yes or no” answers when he pressed banks on their ties with Russian companies. Dimon’s answer — he said the bank is following instructions from the US government — drew a rebuke from the lawmaker.
In another exchange, the CEOs were asked by US Representative Al Green, another Democrat, to raise their hands if a person of color would head their respective banks within a decade. Only one hand went up — Truist Financial Corp chief executive officer Bill Rogers Jr.
The CEOs also danced around related questions about lending decisions to industries like energy producers and gun makers.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort