JPMorgan sought changes in government lending programs to aid the oil and gas sector last spring, Mother Jones reports. Emails obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests by Friends of the Earth show JPMorgan staff asked top Treasury Department officials to make changes to the implementation of the Fed’s Main Street Lending Program (MSLP) specifically to aid the oil and gas sector. Travis Machen, the head of Financial Institutions Corporate Client Banking at JPMorgan, wrote on behalf of banks with exposure to the flailing oil and gas industry and suggested “additional direct government support to the energy sector (similar to programs for the airline industry).”
The email exchanges show “a surprisingly candid picture of the risk Big Oil poses to the stability of our financial system,” Friends of the Earth program manager Lukas Ross told Mother Jones. Last fall, under pressure from shareholders, JPMorgan said it would take steps to push its clients to cut greenhouse gas pollution. (Mother Jones)