JPMorgan CEO Backs Out of Saudi Business Conference

JPMorgan Chase JPM -1.09% & Co. Chief Executive James Dimon has backed out of Saudi Arabia’s marquee business conference following accusations that the Saudi government ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

JPMorgan spokesman Joe Evangelisti declined to comment on why Mr. Dimon pulled out of the event and whether another executive would go in his place.

Mr. Dimon is the most prominent financier to drop out of the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, which draws business leaders from around the world. A number of other Western business leaders have abandoned the event in recent days amid questions about Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance.

Mr. Dimon was scheduled to speak at the event as of Friday, on a panel with the managing director of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund; Christine Lagarde; president of the International Monetary Fund; and other financial services CEOs.

JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, has deep ties to Saudi Arabia that date to the 1930s.

The bank opened an office in Riyadh in 2006 and has around 70 employees in the country. It’s a lender to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and has worked on sovereign bond issuances for the country. It’s also advising on the initial public offering of national oil company Saudi Arabian Oil Co., better known as Aramco.

Mellody Hobson, a JPMorgan director and president of Ariel Investments, resigned from the Public Investment Fund’s advisory board and wasn’t planning to attend the conference, the New York Times reported last week. Ms. Hobson on Sunday declined to comment further.

Mr. Dimon had not pulled out of the conference as of Friday afternoon, people familiar with the matter said. Employees had sent talking points to Mr. Dimon’s chief of staff to prepare for the conference if he were to attend, the people said.

Other bank executives were looking to Mr. Dimon as they weighed whether to attend the event, a person familiar with the matter said. Wall Street executives are hesitant to cut business ties to the kingdom, a potentially lucrative source of deals.

—Maureen Farrell and Anupreeta Das contributed to this article.

Write to Emily Glazer at emily.glazer@wsj.com

Read again JPMorgan CEO Backs Out of Saudi Business Conference : https://ift.tt/2RPlcJi

Let's block ads! (Why?)