PO Box 130
West Shokan, NY 12494
June 29, 2019
Jamie Dimon, CEO
JP Morgan Chase
383 Madison Avenue,
New York City, New York
Dear Mr. Dimon
Since May 1 JPMorgan Chase stock
has fallen from $115 to $112 while the S&P 500 has gone up from $292 to
$293. As an owner of 40 shares of JPMorgan
Chase, I am naturally concerned about your stock's underperformance. As well, as a holder of a Chase credit card, I
am keen to do business with responsible firms.
I recently read a CNBC piece
that was published in March that said that JPMorgan Chase has adopted a policy
to stop giving loans to prison firms. The decision was in response to left-wing
protests. My guess is that you do not know whether any of the protesters are depositors or investors in your firm,
nor is it clear to you whether the protesters represent as much as one percent
of the American population.
In general, decisions to discriminate on the basis of unrelated criteria (e.g.,
political belief or doing business with unpopular administrations) lead to
suboptimal performance. Gary Becker
showed this with respect to racial discrimination, but the same is true of discrimination
on the basis of political opinion. Hence, the weak performance of JPMorgan Chase stock since you've made the decision may be related your decision to favor Democrats over Republicans.
Moreover, this is a broader
assault on the principle of privatization.
How can government services be privatized if banks choose sides in partisan
battles? The use of detention centers is
a policy that the Trump administration continued from the Obama administration,
but the policy had gone unprotested during the Obama years.
Finally, because you may be harming the stock price, the policy may
amount to a breach of fiduciary duty. For all of these reasons, I urge you to rescind it.
Sincerely,
Mitchell Langbert, Ph.D.
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