US President Donald Trump on Thursday sued JPMorgan Chase and its chief executive Jamie Dimon for $5 billion over debanking allegations, according to a copy of the lawsuit posted on CNBC.
The lawsuit, filed in state court in Miami-Dade County in Florida, alleges JPMorgan "unilaterally debanked" Mr Trump after the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by his supporters. The term debanking refers to financial institutions suddenly closing a client's account, often due to perceived reputational risk.
It also said JPMorgan, the largest US bank by assets, has "unabashedly" boasted that for "225 years we've served our customers, shareholders, and communities with integrity and respect".
"Despite claiming to hold these principles dear, JPMC violated them by unilaterally … terminating several of plaintiffs’ bank accounts," the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit also said the plaintiffs "are confident" that JPMorgan Chase's decision was from "political and social motivations", and accused the lender of distancing itself from Mr Trump and his political views.
"In essence, JPMC debanked the plaintiffs’ accounts because it believed that the political tide at the moment favoured doing so," it said.
A representative for JPMorgan said the suit has no merit.
“JPMC does not close accounts for political or religious reasons. We do close accounts because they create legal or regulatory risk for the company," a representative said in a statement.
"We regret having to do so but often rules and regulatory expectations lead us to do so. We have been asking both this administration and prior administrations to change the rules and regulations that put us in this position, and we support the administration’s efforts to prevent the weaponisation of the banking sector.”
The lawsuit was first reported by Fox Business.
Mr Trump has previously criticised JPMorgan over his debanking claims since returning to office last year, including during his address at the World Economic Forum in Davos. There, he criticised Bank of America chief executive Brian Moynihan, as well as JPMorgan.
In August, he signed an executive order to direct US regulators to identify financial institutions that had engaged in "politicised or unlawful debanking" in the past.
Mr Trump as recently as Saturday threatened to take legal action against the bank. In one social media post on Saturday, Mr Trump said he would sue JPMorgan and Mr Dimon on the debanking allegations in the coming weeks.
