With 14,000 employees and over $2 billion lent in Chicago over the past five years, JPMorgan Chase has a significant footprint in the city.
A new report from the bank attempts to quantify that impact, pointing to $21 billion in economic activity generated and over 22,000 affordable homes created or preserved thanks to the banks’ lending.
At the same time, critics question whether the bank has done enough to address claims of discriminatory lending in the 2010s and whether a company as big as they are pays their fair share in taxes.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon sat down with “Chicago Tonight” for an exclusive broadcast interview.
The discussion covered global economic policy, local proposals for a corporate head tax, claims of discriminatory lending by the bank and how cities can remain competitive.
Excerpts from the conversation are below.
“Since I got to Bank One in the year 2000, we’ve gone from 9,000 (employees) in Chicago to 15,000. We’ve become a very healthy, vibrant company here. We have more branches, more private banking, more investment banking, more commercial banking. We bank the city, the schools, the hospitals, the state. And we’re proud of that, we lift up society.”
“The most important thing is we build a healthy, vibrant bank that can do those things well… I’ve seen a lot of companies where they spend a lot more time talking about all the charitable things they do — which they don’t do well — and their companies suck. That doesn’t work for society.
“So even when we do philanthropy, we evaluate it. Does it work? Did it catalyze something? Or is it a permanent subsidy that’s making up for bad government? That doesn’t work. If you’re making up for bad government, like the school system, you should reform the school system, not pretend you’re doing a great job by doing something else that’s not really accomplishing anything.”
A 2020 investigation from WBEZ and City Bureau found that many banks disproportionately issued mortgage loans to majority-white neighborhoods, calling the practice “modern-day redlining.” Of the $7.5 billion JPMorgan Chase lent between 2012-2018, nearly 80% went to white neighborhoods while less than 2% went to majority-Black neighborhoods.
“Those numbers are almost never right,” Dimon said. “Because they come with simplistic things, and different time scales. If we do something we’re not doing right, we look at it, admit it, fix it… All of our programs are meant to actually help people and citizens of America.”
“We do a tremendous amount for the Black community — if you don’t believe me, call them all up. And we do it in veterans, and disabled. And in mortgages. We’re the largest affordable housing in this city, which probably benefits the Black community and all minorities quite a bit.”
“Cities, companies and countries — no one has a divine right to success. And if you think you do, that is a guaranteed way to failure. All cities are a little bit different, but how are your hospitals? How are your schools? What’s your crime? Are there jobs? Are you conducive to healthy companies? Are you driving them out? What are you doing to fix things? How are you dealing with homelessness? That’s how they compete.”
“A lot of people get in jobs, mayors and governors, and they actually think mouthing ideological phrases is going to fix those problems. They think they’re more moral than everybody else and it’s going to fix those problems. It will not. Every mayor learns the hard way you have to attack the problem, and understand it.”
“I find it astounding when people say ‘fair share,’ and they have no idea what the facts are… If you think we don’t pay our fair share, that’s absolutely wrong.”
“Let (city governments) make a political choice. JPMorgan will make its choice, let them make a political choice. They should do more analysis. And by taxing headcount, that will lead to less headcount, just by the nature of the tax.”
“We have done a lot of damage to our company because of shitty policy. If you don’t believe me, look at our schools. Look at some of our cities, look at some of the crime rates over time. And we have to get this right to help all of our citizens.”
“Chicago’s got to get it right for Chicago. I would be happy to spend time with the mayor — I have spoken with him on the phone, I don’t think I’ve ever met him — and talk about what policies we think works and why and give him a detailed analysis. But this has become a real problem that people don’t do the work, the analysis.”
