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JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.,
doing business as A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...
Chase Bank or often as Chase, is an American
national bank In banking, the term national bank carries several meanings: * a bank owned by the state * an ordinary private bank which operates nationally (as opposed to regionally or locally or even internationally) * in the United States, an ordinary p ...
headquartered in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, that constitutes the
consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. T ...
and
commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
banking subsidiary of the U.S. multinational banking and financial services
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
,
JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the ...
. The bank was known as Chase Manhattan Bank until it merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2000. Chase Manhattan Bank was formed by the merger of the Chase National Bank and the
Manhattan Company The Manhattan Company was a New York bank and holding company established on September 1, 1799. The company merged with Chase National Bank in 1955 to form the Chase Manhattan Bank. It is the oldest of the predecessor institutions that eventually ...
in 1955. The bank merged with
Bank One Corporation Bank One Corporation was an American banks in the United States, bank founded in 1968 and at its peak the sixth-largest bank in the United States. It traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol ONE. The company merged with JPMorg ...
in 2004 and in 2008 acquired the deposits and most assets of
Washington Mutual Washington Mutual (often abbreviated to WaMu) was the United States' largest savings and loan association until its collapse in 2008. A savings bank holding company is defined in United States Code: Title 12: Banks and Banking; Section 1842: Def ...
. Chase offers more than 5,100 branches and 17,000 ATMs nationwide. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has 250,355 employees (as of 2016) and operates in more than 100 countries. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had assets of $3.31 trillion in 2022, which makes it the largest bank in the United States as well as the bank with the most branches in the United States and the only bank with a presence in all of the
contiguous United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...
. JPMorgan Chase, through its Chase subsidiary, is one of the
Big Four banks The Big Four (or Big 4) is the colloquial name given to the four main banks in several countries where the banking industry is dominated by just four institutions and where the phrase has thus gained relevance. Some countries include more or less i ...
of the United States.


History

The Bank of The Manhattan Company (New York) was founded on September 1, 1799 and continued under that name until 1955, when it merged with the Chase National Bank, which was founded in 1877; the merged bank was called The Chase Manhattan Bank.


The Manhattan Company

Chase traces its history back to the founding of The Manhattan Company by
Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805. Burr's legacy is defined by his famous personal conflict with Alexand ...
on September 1, 1799 in a house at 40 Wall Street: In 2006, the modern-day Chase bought the
retail banking Retail banking, also known as consumer banking or personal banking, is the provision of services by a bank to the general public, rather than to companies, corporations or other banks, which are often described as wholesale banking. Banking servi ...
division of the Bank of New York, which then only months later merged with
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
-based
Mellon Financial Mellon Financial Corporation was an investment firm which was once one of the world's largest money management firms. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it was in the business of institutional and high-net-worth individual asset management, incl ...
to form the present-day
BNY Mellon The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY Mellon, is an American investment banking services holding company headquartered in New York City. BNY Mellon was formed from the merger of The Bank of New York and the Mellon Finan ...
.


Chase National Bank

Chase National Bank was formed in 1877 by John Thompson. It was named after former
United States Treasury Secretary The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
and Chief Justice
Salmon P. Chase Salmon Portland Chase (January 13, 1808May 7, 1873) was an American politician and jurist who served as the sixth chief justice of the United States. He also served as the 23rd governor of Ohio, represented Ohio in the United States Senate, a ...
, although Chase did not have a connection with the bank. The Chase National Bank acquired a number of smaller banks in the 1920s through its Chase Securities Corporation. In 1926, for instance, it acquired
Mechanics and Metals National Bank The Mechanics and Metals National Bank (MMNB) was a bank in New York City, founded in 1810 as the Mechanics National Bank. In 1910 it merged with National Copper Bank and took the Mechanics and Metals National Bank name. After a number of mergers a ...
. However, its most significant acquisition was that of the Equitable Trust Company of New York in 1930, the largest stockholder of which was
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960) was an American financier and philanthropist, and the only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. He was involved in the development of the vast office complex in ...
This made Chase the largest bank in the US and the world. Chase was primarily a
wholesale bank Wholesale banking is the provision of services by banks to larger customers or organizations such as mortgage brokers, large corporate clients, mid-sized companies, real estate developers and investors, international trade finance businesses, in ...
dealing with other prominent financial institutions and major corporate clients such as
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
, which had, through its
RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
subsidiary, leased prominent space and become a crucial first tenant of
Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco ...
. They rescued that major project in 1930. The bank is also closely associated with and has financed the
oil industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The larges ...
, having longstanding connections with its board of directors to the successor companies of
Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...
, especially
ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
, which are also part of Rockefeller holdings.


Merger as Chase Manhattan Bank

In 1955, Chase National Bank and The Manhattan Company merged to create the Chase Manhattan Bank. As Chase was a much larger bank, it was first intended that Chase acquire the "Bank of Manhattan", as it was nicknamed, but it transpired that Burr's original charter for the Manhattan Company had not only included the clause allowing it to start a bank with surplus funds, but another requiring unanimous consent of shareholders for the bank to be taken over. The deal was therefore structured as an acquisition by the Bank of the Manhattan Company of Chase National, with
John J. McCloy John Jay McCloy (March 31, 1895 – March 11, 1989) was an American lawyer, diplomat, banker, and a presidential advisor. He served as Assistant Secretary of War during World War II under Henry Stimson, helping deal with issues such as German sa ...
becoming chairman of the merged entity. This avoided the need for unanimous consent by shareholders. For Chase Manhattan Bank's new logo,
Chermayeff & Geismar Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv (formerly Brownjohn, Chermayeff & Geismar and Chermayeff & Geismar) is a New York-based branding and graphic design firm. It is currently led by partners Tom Geismar and Sagi Haviv. About It was founded in 1957 ...
designed a stylized octagon in 1961, which remains part of the bank's logo today. It has been reported that the Chase logo was a stylized representation of the primitive water pipes laid by the Manhattan Company, but this story was refuted in 2007 by Ivan Chermayeff himself. According to Chermayeff, the Chase logo was merely intended to be distinctive and geometric, and was not intended at all to resemble a cross-section of a wooden water pipe. According to Chase, the sides of the octagon represent forward motion, while the blank space in the middle suggests progress originates from the center; and is a single unit made up of separate parts, like the bank. The bank included an asset management business called the Chase Investors Management Corporation. Under McCloy's successor, George Champion, the bank relinquished its antiquated 1799 state charter for a modern one. In 1969, under the leadership of
David Rockefeller David Rockefeller (June 12, 1915 – March 20, 2017) was an American investment banker who served as chairman and chief executive of Chase Manhattan Corporation. He was the oldest living member of the third generation of the Rockefeller family, ...
, the bank became part of a
bank holding company A bank holding company is a company that controls one or more banks, but does not necessarily engage in banking itself. The compound bancorp (''banc''/''bank'' + '' corp ration') is often used to refer to these companies as well. United States ...
, the
Chase Manhattan Corporation JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase Bank or often as Chase, is an American national bank headquartered in New York City, that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of the U.S. multinational banking and fina ...
. The mergers and acquisitions during this period allowed Chase Manhattan to expand its influence over many non-financial corporations. A 1979 study titled "The Significance of Bank Control over Large Corporations" found that: "The Rockefeller-controlled Chase Manhattan Bank tops the list, controlling 16 companies." In 1985, Chase Manhattan expanded into
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
by acquiring Continental Bank. In 1991, Chase Manhattan expanded into
Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
by acquiring two insolvent banks.


Mergers with Chemical, J.P. Morgan

In August 1995,
Chemical Bank Chemical Bank was a bank with headquarters in New York City from 1824 until 1996. At the end of 1995, Chemical was the third-largest bank in the U.S., with about $182.9 billion in assets and more than 39,000 employees around the world. Beginning ...
of New York and Chase Manhattan Bank announced plans to merge. The merger was completed in August 1996. Chemical's previous acquisitions included
Manufacturers Hanover Corporation Manufacturers Hanover Corporation was the bank holding company formed as parent of Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company, a large New York bank formed by a merger in 1961. After 1969, Manufacturers Hanover Trust became a subsidiary of Manufac ...
, in 1991, and Texas Commerce Bank, in 1987. Although Chemical was the nominal survivor, the merged company retained the Chase name since not only was it better known (particularly outside the United States), but also the original charter of Chase required that the name be retained in any future business ventures. Hence, even today, it is known as JPMorgan Chase. In December 2000, the combined Chase Manhattan completed the acquisition of J.P. Morgan & Co. in one of the largest banking mergers to date. The combined company was renamed
JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the ...
. In 2004, the bank acquired
Bank One Bank One Corporation was an American bank founded in 1968 and at its peak the sixth-largest bank in the United States. It traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol ONE. The company merged with JPMorgan Chase & Co. on July 1, ...
, making Chase the largest credit card issuer in the United States. JPMorgan Chase added
Bear Stearns The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was a New York-based global investment bank, securities trading and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 as part of the global financial crisis and recession, and was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chase. The compa ...
and
Washington Mutual Washington Mutual (often abbreviated to WaMu) was the United States' largest savings and loan association until its collapse in 2008. A savings bank holding company is defined in United States Code: Title 12: Banks and Banking; Section 1842: Def ...
to its acquisitions in 2008 and 2009 respectively. After closing nearly 400 overlapping branches of the combined company, less than 10% of its total, Chase will have approximately 5,410 branches in 23 states as of the closing date of the acquisition. According to data from
SNL Financial S&P Global Inc. (prior to April 2016 McGraw Hill Financial, Inc., and prior to 2013 The McGraw–Hill Companies, Inc.) is an American publicly traded corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City. Its primary areas of business are financ ...
(data as of June 30, 2008), this places Chase third behind
Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
and
Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...
in terms of total U.S. retail bank branches. In October 2010, Chase was named in two lawsuits alleging manipulation of the silver market. The suits allege that by managing giant positions in silver futures and options, the banks influenced the prices of silver on the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...
's Comex Exchange since early 2008. The following is an illustration of the company's major mergers and acquisitions and historical predecessors to 1995 (this is not a comprehensive list):


Bank One Corporation

In 2004, JPMorgan Chase merged with
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
-based Bank One Corp., bringing on board its current chairman and
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
Jamie Dimon James Dimon (; born March 13, 1956) is an American billionaire businessman and banker who has been the chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase – the largest of the big four American banks – since 2005. Dimon was previously on ...
as president and
COO COO or coo may refer to: Business * Certificate of origin, used in international trade * Chief operating officer or chief operations officer, high-ranking corporate official * Concept of operations, used in Systems Engineering Management Process ...
and designating him as CEO
William B. Harrison, Jr. William B. Harrison Jr., (born August 12, 1943), in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, is the former CEO and chairman of JPMorgan Chase. He attended high school at Virginia Episcopal School, where he was a basketball star. He attended the University o ...
's successor. Dimon's pay was pegged at 90% of Harrison's. Dimon quickly made his influence felt by embarking on a cost-cutting strategy and replaced former JPMorgan Chase executives in key positions with Bank One executives—many of whom were with Dimon at
Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking ...
. Dimon became CEO in January 2006 and chairman in December 2006 after Harrison's resignation.
Bank One Corporation Bank One Corporation was an American banks in the United States, bank founded in 1968 and at its peak the sixth-largest bank in the United States. It traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol ONE. The company merged with JPMorg ...
was formed upon the 1998 merger between Banc One of
Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
and
First Chicago NBD First Chicago Bank was a Chicago-based retail and commercial bank tracing its roots to 1863. Over the years, the bank operated under several names including The First National Bank of Chicago and First Chicago NBD (following its 1995 merger with ...
. These two large banking companies were themselves created through the merger of many banks. JPMorgan Chase completed the acquisition of
Bank One Bank One Corporation was an American bank founded in 1968 and at its peak the sixth-largest bank in the United States. It traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol ONE. The company merged with JPMorgan Chase & Co. on July 1, ...
in Q3 2004. The merger between Bank One and JPMorgan Chase meant that corporate headquarters were now in New York City while the retail bank operations of Chase were consolidated in Chicago. The following is an illustration of Bank One's major mergers and acquisitions and historical predecessors (this is not a comprehensive list):


Washington Mutual

On September 25, 2008, JPMorgan Chase bought most banking operations of Washington Mutual from the
receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...
of the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is one of two agencies that supply deposit insurance to depositors in American depository institutions, the other being the National Credit Union Administration, which regulates and insures cred ...
(FDIC). That night, the
Office of Thrift Supervision The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) was a List of federal agencies in the United States, United States federal agency under the United States Department of the Treasury, Department of the Treasury that chartered, supervised, and regulated all ...
, in what was by far the largest bank failure in American history, seized Washington Mutual Bank and placed it into receivership. The FDIC sold the bank's assets, secured debt obligations and deposits to JPMorgan Chase Bank, NA for $1.888 billion, which re-opened the bank the following day. As a result of the takeover, Washington Mutual shareholders lost all their
equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership * Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the dif ...
. Through the acquisition, JPMorgan became owner of the former accounts of
Providian Financial Providian Financial Corporation was one of the leading credit card issuers in the United States when it was sold to Washington Mutual for approximately US$6.5 billion in October 2005. Providian was headquartered in San Francisco, California, and ...
, a credit card issuer
WaMu WAMU (88.5 FM) is a public news/talk station that services the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. It is owned by American University, and its studios are located near the campus in northwest Washington. WAMU has been the primary National ...
acquired in 2005. The company completed the rebranding of Washington Mutual branches to Chase in late 2009.


Other recent acquisitions and expansions

In the first quarter of 2006, Chase purchased
Collegiate Funding Services JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in City of New York, New York City and Delaware General Corporation Law, inco ...
, a portfolio company of private equity firm
Lightyear Capital Lightyear Capital is a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in financial services companies. The firm, which is based in New York City, was founded in 2002 with the backing of UBS AG by Donald Marron. M ...
, for $663 million. CFS was used as the foundation for the Chase Student Loans, previously known as Chase Education Finance. In April of that same year, Chase acquired the Bank of New York Co.'s retail and small business banking network. This gave Chase access to 338 additional branches and 700,000 new customers in New York,
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, Connecticut, and
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
. In 2019, Chase began opening retail branches in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
and other areas within
Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...
; this coincided with
Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...
starting a similar expansion within the area the previous year. Even though Chase entered the market organically as opposed to a merger & acquisition, they still had to receive approval from the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is an independent bureau within the United States Department of the Treasury that was established by the National Currency Act of 1863 and serves to charter, regulate, and supervise all nation ...
to open branches due to Chase's size as a whole. Before Chase and Bank of America expanded its retail presence into the market, Pittsburgh had been one of the largest U.S. cities without a retail presence from any of the "Big Four", with locally based
PNC Financial Services The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (stylized as PNC) is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 27 U.S. state, states and the D ...
(no. 6 nationally) having a commanding market share in the area. Chase had previously considered buying National City branches from PNC that were required for divesture following that bank's acquisition of National City in 2009, but were instead sold to
First Niagara Bank First Niagara Bank was a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-insured regional banking corporation headquartered in Buffalo, New York. Its parent company, First Niagara Financial Group, Inc. was the 44th-largest bank in the United States with a ...
(since absorbed into
KeyBank KeyBank, the primary subsidiary of KeyCorp, is a regional bank headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, and is the only major bank based in Cleveland. KeyBank is one of the largest banks in the United States. Key's customer base spans retail, small b ...
); it had been speculated that PNC intentionally sold the branches to a much smaller competitor due to not wanting to compete with a "Big Four" bank in its home market. In August 2021, Chase announced that it was the first bank to have a retail presence in all 48 of the
contiguous United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...
. The last state in the US to have a Chase branch was
Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...
, with the branch in
Billings Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...
the first branch in the state.


Expansion outside the US

In September 2021, JPMorgan Chase entered the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
retail banking market by launching an app-based
current account Current account or Current Account may refer to: * Current account (balance of payments), a country's balance of trade, net of factor income and cash transfers * Current account (banking) A transaction account, also called a checking account, ch ...
and
Deposit account A deposit account is a bank account maintained by a financial institution in which a customer can deposit and withdraw money. Deposit accounts can be savings accounts, current accounts or any of several other types of accounts explained below. ...
under the
Chase Chase or CHASE may refer to: Businesses * Chase Bank, a national bank based in New York City, New York * Chase Aircraft (1943–1954), a defunct American aircraft manufacturing company * Chase Coaches, a defunct bus operator in England * Chase Co ...
brand. This is the company's first retail banking operation outside of the United States.


Controversies


WWII Related Controversies


Purchase of Nazi Germany's Reichsmarks

A press release from the
National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...
(NARA) in 2004 announced that many of the new
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
(FBI) files had become declassified. This declassification enabled the discovery that before and during the early years of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the
German government The Federal Cabinet or Federal Government (german: link=no, Bundeskabinett or ') is the chief executive body of the Federal Republic of Germany. It consists of the Federal Chancellor and cabinet ministers. The fundamentals of the cabinet's or ...
sold a special kind of
Reichsmark The (; sign: ℛℳ; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of Germany from 1924 until 20 June 1948 in West Germany, where it was replaced with the , and until 23 June 1948 in East Germany, where it was replaced by the East German mark. The Reich ...
, known as Rückwanderer eturneeMarks, to American citizens of German descent. Chase National Bank, along with other businesses, were involved in these transactions. Through Chase, this allowed Nazi sympathizers to purchase Marks with
dollars Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, Un ...
at a discounted rate. Specifically, "The financial houses understood that the German government paid the commissions (to its agents, including Chase) through the sale of discounted, blocked Marks that came mainly from
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
who had fled
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
." In other words, Nazi Germany was able to offer these Marks below face-value because they had been stolen from
émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French ''émigrer'', "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Huguenots fled France followi ...
s fleeing the Nazi regime. Between 1936 and 1941, the
Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
amassed over $20 million, and the businesses enabling these transactions earned $1.2 million in commissions. Of these commissions, over $500,000 went to Chase National Bank and its subagents. These facts were discovered when the FBI began its investigation in October 1940. The purpose of the investigation was to follow German-Americans who had bought the Marks. However, Chase National Bank's executives were never federally prosecuted because Chase's lead attorney threatened to reveal
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
,
Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
, and
Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
"sources and methods" in court. Publicly naming the sources and methods could have posed security risks and threatened future
intelligence gathering This is a list of intelligence gathering disciplines. HUMINT Human intelligence (HUMINT) are gathered from a person in the location in question. Sources can include the following: * Advisors or foreign internal defense (FID) personnel wor ...
. To avoid such revelations, the executives' violations of the
Johnson Act The Johnson Act of 1934 (Foreign Securities Act, ch. 112, , , 1934-04-13) prohibited foreign nations in debt from marketing their bond issues in the United States. The law was enacted on April 13, 1934, and although it was impacted by the Brett ...
, the
Espionage Act The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law enacted on June 15, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code (War ...
, and the
Foreign Agents Registration Act The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)2 U.S.C. § 611 ''et seq.'' is a United States law that imposes public disclosure obligations on persons representing foreign interests.
were never prosecuted.


Release of funds for Nazi Germany

Besides the controversial Rückwanderer Mark Scheme, NARA records also revealed another controversy during the
occupation of France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...
by the Nazis. From the late 1930s until June 14, 1941, when President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
(FDR) issued an
Executive Order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of th ...
freezing German assets, Chase National Bank worked with the Nazi government. The order blocking any access to French accounts in the U.S. by anyone, but especially by the Nazis was issued by
Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
,
Henry Morgenthau Jr. Henry Morgenthau Jr. (; May 11, 1891February 6, 1967) was the United States Secretary of the Treasury during most of the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He played a major role in designing and financing the New Deal. After 1937, while ...
, with the approval of FDR. Within hours of the order, Chase unblocked the accounts and the funds were transferred through
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
to Nazi Germany.


Refusal to release funds belonging to Jews in occupied France

U.S. Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...
officials wanted an investigation of French subsidiaries of American banks, including: Chase Bank, J.P. Morgan & Co,
National City Corporation National City Corporation was a regional bank holding company based in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, founded in 1845; it was once one of the ten largest banks in America in terms of deposits, mortgages and home equity lines of credit. Subsidiary Nat ...
, Guaranty Bank,
Bankers Trust Bankers Trust was a historic American banking organization. The bank merged with Alex. Brown & Sons in 1997 before being acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1999. Deutsche Bank sold the Trust and Custody division of Bankers Trust to State Street Corpor ...
, and
American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...
. Of these banks, only Chase and Morgan remained open in France during the
Nazi occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...
. The Chase branch chief in Paris, France, Carlos Niedermann, told his supervisor in New York that there had been an "expansion of deposits". Also, Niedermann was, "very vigorous in enforcing restrictions against Jewish property, even going so far as to refuse to release funds belonging to Jews in anticipation that a decree with retroactive provisions prohibiting such release might be published in the near future by the occupying Nazi authorities" . In 1998, Chase general counsel William McDavid said that Chase did not have control over Niedermann. Whether that claim was true or not, Chase Manhattan Bank acknowledged seizing about 100 accounts during the
Vichy regime Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...
. Kenneth McCallion, a partner in the New York firm Goodkind Labaton Rudoff & Sucharow, led a lawsuit against
Barclays Bank Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...
for the illegal seizure of assets during
World War Two World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
and has since turned his attention toward Chase. The
World Jewish Congress The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act as ...
(WJC), entered into discussions with Chase and a spokesperson for the WJC said, "Nobody at Chase today is guilty. They were not involved in whatever happened, but they do accept that they have an institutional responsibility." A Chase spokesman said, "This is a moral issue that we take very seriously." Chase general counsel McDavid added, "that Chase intends to compensate Jewish account holders whose assets were illegally plundered". In 1999, the French government formed a commission to report findings to
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Lionel Jospin Lionel Robert Jospin (; born 12 July 1937) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002. Jospin was First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and the party's candidate for President of France in ...
. Claire Andrieu, a commission member and history professor at the
Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...
, said that under the Vichy regime, French banks received visits from Nazi officials but U.S. banks did not. At that time, they did not have to report Jewish accounts, but they did just as the French banks did. She goes on to say that an American
ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...
protected the U.S. subsidiaries.


Related legal action

In May 1999, Chase Manhattan reached a settlement with 20 plaintiffs who filed an asset reparations lawsuit, such as the
Claims Conference The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, or Claims Conference, represents the world's Jews in negotiating for compensation and restitution for victims of Nazi persecution and their heirs. According to Section 2(1)(3) of the Proper ...
, a Jewish restitution organization, and the WJC. The settlement subjected Chase to an independent probe of its conduct of activity which occurred from the company's offices in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and
Châteauneuf-sur-Cher Châteauneuf-sur-Cher () is a Communes of France, commune in the Cher (department), Cher Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region of France. Geography An area of farming and forestry comprising a larg ...
, in southern France, during the World War II-era. The settlement also made possible the company having to eventually a pay modest but symbolically important, payouts to former Chase customers after the probe was completed. It was determined that Chase only owned a sum that was well under $1 million in asset reparations by this point in time. The settlement made Chase Manhattan the first bank to reach a settlement over
Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
-related claims.


Public acknowledgement from Chase Manhattan

In February 2000, more than fifty years after information regarding the ties between Chase and Nazi Germany was revealed during Congressional hearings, Chase Manhattan publicly acknowledged the deal its predecessor Chase National Bank made with Nazi Germany which helped the German government exchange marks and which also likely originated from the forced sale of assets by Jewish refugees.


Recent controversies

JPMorgan Chase has paid $16 billion in fines, settlements, and other litigation expenses from 2011 to 2013. Of the $16 billion JPMorgan Chase has paid, about $8.5 billion were for fines and settlements resulting from illegal actions taken by bank executives, according to Richard Eskow at the Campaign for America's Future, who cited a new report from Joshua Rosner of Graham Fisher & Co. The $16 billion total does not include a recent settlement that calls for JPMorgan Chase to pay $100 million to waive $417 million in claims it had made against clients of the firm
MF Global MF Global, formerly known as Man Financial, was a major global financial derivatives broker, or commodities brokerage firm that went bankrupt in 2011. MF Global provided exchange-traded derivatives, such as futures and options as well as over-t ...
. The
U.S. Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...
's
Office of Foreign Assets Control The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy ob ...
found that JPMorgan had illegally aided dictatorships in
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
,
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
,
Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
and
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, including transferring 32,000 ounces of
gold bullion A gold bar, also called gold bullion or gold ingot, is a quantity of refined metallic gold of any shape that is made by a bar producer meeting standard conditions of manufacture, labeling, and record keeping. Larger gold bars that are produced ...
(valued at approximately $20,560,000) to the benefit of a bank in Iran. JPMorgan did not voluntarily self-disclose the Iranian matter to
OFAC The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy o ...
. Among its other transgressions, JPMorgan has been found to have: * Misled investors * Engaged in fictitious trades * Collected illegal
flood insurance Flood insurance is the specific insurance coverage issued against property loss from flooding. To determine risk factors for specific properties, insurers will often refer to topographical maps that denote lowlands, floodplains and other areas tha ...
commissions * Wrongfully foreclosed on soldiers; charged veterans hidden fees for refinancing * Violated the
Federal Trade Commission Act The Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 was a United States federal law which established the Federal Trade Commission. The Act was signed into law by US President Woodrow Wilson in 1914 and outlaws unfair methods of competition and unfair acts ...
by
making false statements Making false statements () is the common name for the United States federal process crime laid out in Section 1001 of Title 18 of the United States Code, which generally prohibits knowingly and willfully making false or fraudulent statements, or ...
to people seeking automobile loans * Illegally increased their collection of overdraft fees by processing large transactions before smaller ones * Helped drive
Jefferson County, Alabama Jefferson County is the List of counties in Alabama, most populous county in the U.S. state of Alabama, located in the central portion of the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 674,721. Its county seat i ...
, into
bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
by switching its fixed-rate debt to variable * Violated
antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...
provision of the
Sherman Act The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (, ) is a United States antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce. It was passed by Congress and is named for Senator John Sherman, its principal author. Th ...
relating to
bid rigging Bid rigging is a fraudulent scheme in procurement auctions resulting in non-competitive bids and can be performed by corrupt officials, by firms in an orchestrated act of collusion, or between officials and firms. This form of collusion is illegal ...


Targeted account closures

During 2013 and 2014, Chase and other banks received media attention for the practice of canceling the personal and business accounts of hundreds of legal
sex workers A sex worker is a person who provides sex work, either on a regular or occasional basis. The term is used in reference to those who work in all areas of the sex industry.Oxford English Dictionary, "sex worker" According to one view, sex work is d ...
, citing in some instances the "
morality clause A morality clause (also known as a morals clause, bad boy clause or bad girl clause) is a provision within instruments of a contract which curtail, or restrain, or proscribe certain behavior of individuals or party(s) to the contract. A moral clau ...
" of their account agreement. Later it was discovered that this practice included mortgage accounts and business loans. Chase canceled the mortgage refinancing process for one individual, that the bank had initiated, whose production company made soft core films like those broadcast on
Cinemax Cinemax is an American pay television, cable, and satellite television network owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Developed as a companion "maxi-pay" service complementing the offerings shown on parent net ...
. This resulted in a lawsuit which cited evasive dealings and misleading statements by several Chase executives including Securities Vice President Adam Gelcich, Legal Fair Lending Department Vice President Deb Vincent, and an unnamed executive director and assistant general counsel. In addition to closing accounts for sex workers, the bank has also been using its "morality clause" to disassociate from other types of businesses. Some of these other businesses include
medical marijuana Medical cannabis, or medical marijuana (MMJ), is cannabis and cannabinoids that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabis as medicine has not been rigorously tested due to production and governmental restrictions ...
dispensaries and any that are "gun related". Another was a woman-owned condom manufacturing company called
Lovability Condoms Lovability is a company that designs, manufactures, and markets condoms, personal lubricant, and other sexual health & wellness products. Based in Los Angeles, the company sells a variety of products, including male condoms. History Lovabil ...
. Company founder Tiffany Gaines was rejected by Chase Paymentech services "as processing sales for adult-oriented products is a prohibited vertical" and was told that it was a "reputational risk" to process payment for condoms. Gaines then started a petition to ask Chase to review and change its policy of classifying condoms as an "adult oriented product". The bank later reversed its decision and invited Gaines to submit an application citing that was already doing business with a "wide variety of merchants, including grocers and drug stores, that sell similar products". In 2019, the bank faced growing criticism for its alleged practice of arbitrarily targeting the personal accounts of outspoken online personalities such as Martina Markota and
Proud Boys The Proud Boys is an American far-right, neo-fascist, and exclusively male organization that promotes and engages in political violence in the United States.Far-right: * * Fascist: * * * * * Men only: * * * Political violence: * * * It has ...
chairman
Enrique Tarrio :''The surname'' Tarrio ''is of Spanish language origin. In Spanish, it is spelled'' Tarrío'', with an acute accent on the'' í. Henry "Enrique" Tarrio ( , ; born ) is an American activist, former FBI informant, and convicted felon who ser ...
. Although the specific motives behind the closures were not officially disclosed the assumption among many on the right was that they were political in nature.


Dakota Access Pipeline

Financial documents from
Energy Transfer Partners Energy Transfer LP is an American company engaged in natural gas and propane pipeline transport. It is organized under Delaware state laws and headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It was founded in 1995 by Ray Davis and Kelcy Warren, who remains Cha ...
, the pipeline builder for the
Dakota Access Pipeline The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) or Bakken pipeline is a underground pipeline in the United States that has the ability to transport up to 750,000 barrels of light sweet crude oil per day. It begins in the shale oil fields of the Bakken Forma ...
, lists a number of large banking institutions that have provided credit for the project, including JP Morgan Chase. Because of these financial ties, Chase and other banks were a target of the
Dakota Access Pipeline protests The Dakota Access Pipeline Protests, also called by the hashtag #NoDAPL, began in April 2016 as a grassroots opposition to the construction of Energy Transfer Partners' Dakota Access Pipeline in the northern United States and ended on Febru ...
during 2016 and 2017.


Parental leave policy

JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay $5 million to compensate their male employees who did not receive the same paid
parental leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" an ...
as women from 2011 to 2017. In December 2017, the bank "clarified its policy to ensure equal access to men and women looking to be their new child's main caregiver". According to the involved attorneys, this is the biggest recorded settlement in a U.S. parental leave discrimination case. JPMorgan agreed to train and monitor to ensure equal parental leave benefits and stated that "its policy was always intended to be gender-neutral".


Fossil fuel investment

Chase has faced criticism and protests over its high rate of investment in various
fossil fuel A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels m ...
industries such as coal, oil, and gas. A study released in October 2019 indicated that Chase invests more ($75 billion) in fossil fuels than any other bank.


Unequal lending practices

An analysis of home purchases in Chicago from 2012 to 2018 by
City Bureau City Bureau is an American non-profit organization based in South Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is a non-profit newsroom that aims to produce civic journalism that brings journalists and communities together in a collaborative spirit. It was fo ...
and WBEZ Chicago showed that JP Morgan Chase, "loaned 41 times more in Chicago’s white neighborhoods than it did in the city’s black neighborhoods." The report prompted protests at Chicago Chase branches in June 2020. At a reopening of a remodeled Chase branch in Chicago's South Shore, Dimon said via video, "we have targets now to do $600 million (over the next five years) in new mortgages for Blacks and new homeowners in Chicago neighborhoods."


References


Further reading

* * * *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chase Bank JPMorgan Chase Banks based in New York (state) Banks based in New York City Online brokerages Financial services companies based in New York (state) American companies established in 1799 Banks established in 1799 1799 establishments in New York (state) House of Morgan Rockefeller family American corporate subsidiaries