BANKS DODGY DEALS CAMPAIGNS
About BankTrack
Visit us
Organisation
Our team
Our board
Guiding principles
Team up with us
Jobs at BankTrack
Our annual reports
Funding and finances
History
BankTrack in the media
Our privacy policy
Donate
2023-03-17 00:00:00
Briefing: The role of financial institutions in decarbonising the steel sector
2023-03-09 00:00:00
Dutch bank ING supports controversial pipeline to import gas from authoritarian Azerbaijan
2023-02-23 00:00:00
Financial institutions need to address steelmaking’s coal addiction
2023-02-07 00:00:00
What COP15 means for banks: meeting the Global Biodiversity Framework requires protecting Indigenous rights and divesting from harmful industries
2023-03-20 08:50:41
Who dares to finance Eni and Exxon’s dangerous Rovuma gas plans in Mozambique?
2023-03-14 14:59:00
New ING policy could spark bank shift away from financing oil and gas infrastructure
2023-02-24 13:46:14
Pego power station conversion plans halted
2022-12-14 11:08:26
HSBC announces it will no longer finance new oil and gas fields
Connect
2022-11-22 00:00:00
Banking on Thin Ice: Two years in the heat
2022-11-17 00:00:00
BankTrack Global Human Rights Benchmark 2022
2022-10-21 00:00:00
Burning forests in the name of clean energy? How banks are failing to exclude the harmful wood biomass industry from finance
2022-06-28 00:00:00
The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP): Finance Risk Update No. 3
2022-04-05 00:00:00
The BankTrack Human Rights Benchmark Asia
2022-03-30 00:00:00
Banking on Climate Chaos 2022
See all publications
Sections
Banks Dodgy Deals Campaigns
Our campaigns
Banks and Climate
Banks and Human Rights
Banks and Nature
Banks and Pandemics
Our projects
Tracking the NZBA
Banks and Putin's war in Ukraine
Tracking the Equator Principles
Tracking the PRBs
Find a Better Bank
Banks and the OECD Guidelines
Media
News Publications
Fossil Banks No Thanks StopEACOP Forests & Finance Banks & Biodiversity Drop JBS Bank of Coal Don't Buy into Occupation
BankTrack
About BankTrack Visit us Organisation Our team Our board Guiding principles Team up with us Jobs at BankTrack Our annual reports Funding and finances History BankTrack in the media Our privacy policy Donate
Successes Contact BankTrack
Donate Mailing list Facebook Twitter Login
Home › Partner news ›
Partner News

US banks under scrutiny in Congress over continued business with Russian oil and gas

2022-09-22
By: Razom We Stand
JPMorgan Chase CEO Dimon responds to Congressman Brad Sherman, 21st September 2022. Photo: Congressman Brad Sherman / YouTube
2022-09-22
By: Razom We Stand

At public hearings in US Congress on 19 September congressman Brad Sherman directly questioned JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon and Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser about continued business of their banks with Russian fossil fuel companies and traders, including Gazprom, Lukoil and Vitol.

Both CEOs failed to give definitive answers on whether or not they cut business ties with Russia, trying to evade direct answers. However, from CEO statements it became clear that both banks continue to do business with Russian companies, who contribute to funding Putin's military aggression. Dimon even attempted to interject while congressman Sherman was speaking, sparking a brief, contentious exchange and silencing only after demand to respect protocol from chair of the hearings congresswoman Maxine Waters.

This comes just a month after Razom We Stand with international support sparked the public attention to banks continued business in Russia. Together with activists in New York, Paris and London on Ukraine’s Independence Day, 24 August, we took actions to demand that they immediately stop doing any kind of business with Russian fossil fuel companies, including investment, loans or other financial services.

In letters to management of these banks, Razom We Stand together with more than twenty Ukrainian civil society organizations reiterated the demand to end ties with the Russian oil and gas industry, which was first voiced by Oleg Ustenko - Volodymyr Zelenskyi's chief economic adviser. We and other Ukrainian organizations were asking top management of JP Morgan and Citi for meetings. That was ignored by banks, but they can’t ignore the US congress.

JPMorgan and Citi sit at the top of the list of private banks, who provided billions of dollars of loans for Russian oil and gas companies in the run up to Russia's full scale military invasion. After six months of war crimes and the slaughter of civilians, those banks have continued providing financial services to them, and, by proxy, Vladimir Putin and his military. By maintaining ties to Russian oil and gas, these banks continue the war and genocide in Ukraine, as export of oil and gas provides more than 40% of the income of the federal budget of Russia.

Research done by our partners Leave it in the ground initiative (LINGO) exposed that JP Morgan and Citi were among the leading investors in the big new Russian oil and gas projects – 40 "carbon bombs" with potential of releasing over 1 Gigaton of carbon emissions each. 

JP Morgan also is one of key US banks, who are threatening to leave the Global Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) over strengthened core criteria of being climate neutral investors. That’s because JP Morgan is not willing to limit their fossil fuel financing and not even consider withdrawing participation from Russian carbon bombs projects. 

Sanctions and embargo against Russian fossil fuels are what is needed not only for Ukraine to win over Putin and his murderous petrostate, but also for the whole world to save itself from the climate emergency. Therefore, we should work with double strength - build further pressure on international banks and corporations to cut all ties with Russia. Check at Putin100 website to find out who are still involved in business with Russia.

We are adamant, that together with the priority of boycotting Russian oil and gas, any investments in fossil fuel production must be halted globally, banks and other financial institutions must hold commitments for real decarbonization.

With your support will continue or work to hold banks accountable and force governments to react. Stay tuned - sign up for our campaign updates.


Reposted from the original at Razom We Stand here.

Banks

Citi

United States
Active

JPMorgan Chase

United States
Active
Sections
Banks Policies Dodgy Deals Campaigns
Our campaigns
Banks and Climate Banks and Human Rights Banks and Nature Banks and Pandemics
Our projects
Tracking the NZBA Banks and Putin's war in Ukraine Tracking the Equator Principles Tracking the PRBs Find a Better Bank Banks and the OECD Guidelines
Media
News Publications
Fossil Banks No Thanks StopEACOP Forests & Finance Banks & Biodiversity Drop JBS Bank of Coal Don't Buy into Occupation
BankTrack
About BankTrack Visit us Organisation Our team Our board Guiding principles Team up with us Jobs at BankTrack Our annual reports Funding and finances History BankTrack in the media Our privacy policy Donate
Successes Contact BankTrack
Vismarkt 15
6511 VJ Nijmegen
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 24 324 9220
Contact@banktrack.org
Donate Mailing list Facebook Twitter
©2022 BankTrack
BankTrack is a registered charity in the Netherlands (ANBI) - RSIN 813874658
Find our privacy policy here

Stay up to date

Sign up now for all BankTrack's news


Make a comment

Your comment will be reviewed, before being posted