XPost: talk.politics.guns, alt.politics.economics, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: zinn@reno.us   
      
   WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The heads of the nation's largest banks   
   faced pointed criticism on Thursday from Republicans complaining the firms   
   are inappropriately taking liberal stances on social and cultural issues.   
      
   Senator Pat Toomey, the senior Republican on the Senate Banking Committee,   
   urged banks to stop "embracing a liberal ESG agenda that harms America,"   
   as chief executives appeared before Congress for an oversight hearing.   
   Toomey, frequently a bank allywho has opposed stricter industry rules,   
   argued firms are out of bounds when they weigh in on non-banking issues   
   like guns and abortion.   
      
   "I can't help but observe that when banks do weigh-in on highly charged   
   social and political issues, they seem to always come down on the liberal   
   side," he said in his opening statement.   
      
   The increased scrutiny underscores the challenges the country's largest   
   lenders increasingly face as they try to balance commercial interests with   
   pressure from policymakers, activists and investors to take stances on   
   environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.   
      
   Multiple Republicans argued banks are caving to liberal pressure to weigh   
   in on such issues, and suggested conservatives will be quick to   
   counterbalance with their own pushback. Sen. Kevin Cramer said banks were   
   feeling pressure to be "one of the cool crowd."   
      
   Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, got the CEOs gathered to promise that a   
   recently approved merchant code to record gun store transactions would not   
   be used to limit firearms purchases. read more   
      
   "We do not intend to use the code to limit or restrict the purchase of   
   firearms," said Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, who added, "We respect the   
   second amendment."   
      
   The line-up included CEOs of the four largest U.S. banks: JPMorgan Chase &   
   Co's (JPM.N) Jamie Dimon, Wells Fargo's (WFC.N) Charles Scharf, Bank of   
   America's (BAC.N) Brian Moynihan and Citi's Fraser. They were joined by   
   the CEOs of the country's largest regional lenders, US Bancorp (USB.N),   
   PNC Financial (PNC.N) and Truist (TFC.N).   
      
   ZELLE CRITICISM   
   For their part, Democrats continued their critical stance towards big   
   banks, arguing they are enjoying large profits while mistreating consumers   
   and workers. None of the CEOs in attendance affirmatively agreed with   
   Chairman Sherrod Brown's request that they remain neutral in any employee   
   unionization efforts.   
      
   Sen. Elizabeth Warren blasted banks for what she said were unacceptable   
   levels of fraud on Zelle, the digital payments tool owned by several of   
   the largest banks. She criticized firms for not providing complete data on   
   the level of Zelle fraud seen at each bank, with several CEOs promising to   
   provide the information by the end of the day. Warren sent a letter   
   seeking such information in July.   
      
   "You tell people that it is safe, but when someone is defrauded, you claim   
   that's the customer's problem," she said.   
      
   Brown said told reporters after the hearing Democrats "will stay on them"   
   until full fraud figures are provided.   
      
   PNC CEO William Demchek said banks are committed to solving any problems   
   with Zelle, but urged policymakers to scrutinize other peer-to-peer   
   payment programs, which he said had far higher levels of fraud.   
      
   "We'll fix Zelle," he said.   
      
   The CEOs said their banks cover any unauthorized transactions, but would   
   not commit to repaying all fraud claims from customers.   
      
   CEOs were in Washington for a second day of oversight hearings. On   
   Wednesday, executives were pressed by lawmakers to take a tougher stance   
   on doing business with China amid growing tensions between Washington and   
   Beijing over Taiwan's sovereignty and China's human rights record. read   
   more   
      
      
   https://www.reuters.com/world/us/senior-republican-chastises-banks-social-   
   agenda-that-harms-america-2022-09-22/   
      
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