Report: JPMorgan cuts ties to Purdue
STAMFORD — JPMorgan Chase & Co., the country’s largest bank by assets, has reportedly cut ties with Purdue Pharma, making it the latest major organization to distance itself from the OxyContin maker in response to hundreds of lawsuits alleging that the firm has fueled the opioid crisis with deceptive marketing of its pain drugs.
The bank had handled cash and bill payments for Purdue, but it decided to sever the relationship in light of the “reputational risks” stemming from the controversy surrounding the company, according to unnamed sources cited by Reuters. JPMorgan purportedly told Purdue in March that it had six months to find another bank; the firm responded by recruiting the Dallas-based Comerica for the same role.
In a statement Thursday, Purdue neither confirmed nor denied the demise of its
business relationship with JPMorgan, which was not one of its lenders.
“Purdue is a streamlined organization with an exciting pipeline of new medicines and significant cash reserves,” the statement said. “The company has multiple banking relationships and will not have any interruption to its banking and financial service needs.”
Messages left for JPMorgan and Comerica were not immediately returned.
In recent months, JPMorgan has faced growing scrutiny of its business practices. On Tuesday, environmental activists rallied outside its building in Chicago and briefly disrupted its annual meeting there, to protest its financing of fossil-fuel projects.
At the same time, the proliferation of litigation — including a lawsuit filed by Connecticut — has prompted a mounting
number of nonprofits and businesses to suspend their dealings with Purdue.
Last week, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced that it would not accept new donations from the Sackler family. Eight of the Sacklers own Purdue and are named in lawsuits filed by Connecticut and many other states and cities.
The same day as the Met’s announcement, the American Museum of Natural History said that it, too, would not take more Sackler donations.
In March, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the United Kingdom’s National Portrait Gallery and Tate galleries said they would not accept additional Sackler donations.
Alongside JPMorgan, other for-profit organizations have rethought their relationships.
Stamford-based hedge fund Hildene Capital Management told investment entities of Sackler family members late last year that the firm was no longer comfortable managing their money.
At the same time, Connecticut-based beneficiaries of the Sacklers — including the University of Connecticut, Yale University, Greenwich Hospital and Stamford’s Palace Theater — have not severed their relationships.
“Returning the money to the Sacklers would not undo the damage of the opioid crisis or punish the family or the company they are associated with,” a UConn spokeswoman said earlier this year. “Rather, it would hamper the work of UConn students and researchers who have no connection to the issues at hand and have done nothing wrong.”
Unrelated to its break-up with JPMorgan, Purdue has admitted to exploring bankruptcy in recent months. But such a move does not appear imminent following a $270 million settlement reached in March with Oklahoma to settle that state’s lawsuit.