Amid the Trump administration’s crusade against private-sector diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, big banks have begun walking back more public mentions of their DEI initiatives, or even scrapping some programs entirely.
In JPMorgan Chase’s annual regulatory filing Friday, the bank said it “has been and expects that it will continue to be criticized by activists, politicians and other members of the public concerning business practices or positions” it’s taken “with respect to matters of public policy (such as diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives).”
A JPMorgan spokesperson, pointing to statements in this year’s filing that speak to the bank’s DEI efforts, also noted a mention of the bank believing “that its long-term growth and success depend on its ability to attract, develop and retain talented employees and foster an inclusive work environment.”
In last year’s annual filing, by comparison, the bank noted its “global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion centers of excellence” that “support its diversity, equity and inclusion strategies through initiatives such as career coaching and mentorship.” The filing also mentioned training programs and resources on topics including DEI.
A table breaking down the bank’s proportion of diverse workers was last year titled “Diversity, equity and inclusion”; this year, it’s labeled “Workforce composition.”
CEO Jamie Dimon said last week the bank will reduce spending on some DEI efforts, not due to the White House’s orders but because he views them as wasteful, according to Bloomberg.
“A lot of companies did things I never would have done,” Dimon said at a company town hall last week in response to an employee query on DEI programs.
Some of the bank’s efforts probably “became excessive” and wasted money, he said.
“I was never a firm believer in bias training,” Dimon said, according to Bloomberg. “I saw how we were spending money on some of this stupid sh-t, and it really pissed me off.”
A bank spokesperson declined to comment to Bloomberg.
Other big banks are shying away from more public mentions of their diversity and inclusion initiatives: Citi and Morgan Stanley are cutting or watering down such language, and Bank of America and Wells Fargo are reviewing the language they use, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing unnamed sources.
Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs scrapped a policy it established in 2020, to turn down initial public offering business from companies with boards of directors that are all white and male.
The bank cited legal developments as the reason behind the move, given that an appeals court last month rejected a director-diversity disclosure initiative by Nasdaq. Even though it’s abandoning the pledge, Goldman aims to continue assisting companies looking to diversify their boards, a bank spokesperson told Bloomberg.
Wall Street banks aren’t alone. Other large companies, such as Meta, Amazon, Walmart, Target, McDonald’s and Ford, have said they’re dropping DEI initiatives or changing policies. In the first week of President Donald Trump’s second term, the White House issued executive orders targeting workplace DEI initiatives and demanding that the government investigate companies’ DEI programs.
Amid the Trump administration’s DEI crackdown, Democratic lawmakers have asked Federal Reserve and Treasury Department officials what actions they’ve taken in response.
Other banks, too, are moving away from mentioning DEI in public disclosures or tweaking references to their diversity and inclusion initiatives.
In Providence, Rhode Island-based Citizens’ latest annual report, filed Thursday, a “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” section that had been included in the bank’s filing last year is gone. The filing had referenced a DEI strategy “focused on creating an environment of inclusion and belonging, building a more diverse workforce and evaluating the effectiveness of our initiatives.”
Citizens did, however, note a “Culture of Inclusion” in this year’s filing, an “enterprise inclusion strategy,” and the bank’s “commitment to building and fostering a diverse, inclusive, high-performing culture.”
Columbus, Ohio-based Huntington Bank, which appointed Donnell White as its chief DEI officer in late 2023, also pared down DEI language in its latest annual filing Friday. White’s role and a “DEI Strategy and Operating Plan,” mentioned in last year’s filing, were not present in this year’s.
Still, the bank maintained language around the diversity of employees being “a key component of our success as an organization.” Additionally, the bank noted its commitment to fostering a diverse, inclusive environment, and the use of “Inclusion Councils, Business Resource Groups, and Communities of Practice.”
Spokespeople for Citizens and Huntington didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
