(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland via video link on Thursday, accused the CEOs of Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase of failing to provide banking services to conservatives, but provided no evidence or details of this situation. any wrongdoing.
“I hope you start opening your bank to conservatives, because many conservatives complain that banks don’t allow them to do business within the bank, and that includes a place called Bank of America. … what you’re doing is wrong,” Trump said during a question-and-answer session with business executives and CEOs gathered on stage.
Speaking just after Trump made the comment, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan did not respond to the claim that the bank was avoiding conservatives. Instead, he congratulated Trump on the United States hosting the next World Cup.
“We serve more than 70 million customers, welcome conservatives, and have no political litmus tests,” a Bank of America spokesperson said in an email.
“We have never and will never close an account for political reasons, period. We follow the law and the guidance of our regulators and have long said that there are problems with the current framework that Washington must address. “We welcome the opportunity to work with the new Administration and Congress on ways to resolve regulatory ambiguity while preserving our nation’s ability to combat financial crime,” a spokesperson for JPMorgan in an emailed statement.
(Reporting by Lananh Nguyen, Caitlin Webber and Katharine Jackson; writing by Susan Heavey; editing by Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio)
