Democratic Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on the company’s claims, which Dimon repeated in a hearing, that the bank worked to help people during the global pandemic, Slate reports.
Dimon testified repeatedly that JPMC helped small businesses and households by suspending payments to those who requested it and helped distribute federally-backed loans and grants. Warren, however, found the claims hollow.
“No matter how you try to spin it, this past year has shown that corporate profits are more important to your bank than offering just a little help to struggling families even when we’re in the middle of a worldwide crisis,” Warren said before questioning Dimon about fees the bank did collect during the pandemic. Warren specifically asked about overdraft fees levied against account holders. “Do you know the number?” she asked Dimon about the amount collected.
Dimon claimed he did not, but Warren was ready: “Well I actually have the number in front me. It’s $1.463 billion. Now do you know how much JP Morgan would have been in 2020 if you had followed the recommendation of the regulators and waived overdraft fees to help struggling consumers?”
After lengthy hedging by Dimon as if trying to run out the clock, Warren again interrupted him: “I appreciate that you want to duck this question. The answer is your profits would have been $27.6 billion. So here’s the thing. You and your colleagues come in today to talk about how you stepped up and took care of customers during the pandemic,. “And it’s a bunch of baloney. In fact, it’s about $4 billion worth of baloney, but you could fix that right now. “