Big Banks Are Scrubbing Their Public Mentions of DEI Efforts

U.S. banks are scaling back their public support for diversity and inclusion to avoid winding up in the crosshairs of a legal landscape increasingly hostile toward it. Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup are removing or watering down public language around efforts to promote or support diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, according to people familiar with the matter. Wells Fargo and Bank of America have also started to pore over their language, some of the people said.

The moves mark the beginning of a pullback from Wall Street’s push into DEI, according to bank executives and lawyers, which came after the 2020 protests over the death of George Floyd {snip}

More changes are in the works at banks in the coming weeks, when companies release their annual reports, proxies and other public filings. Banks have also launched audits of DEI policies, programs and events that could open them up to legal risks.

Executives’ worries about DEI efforts increased after President Trump’s executive order last month directing federal departments and agencies to launch civil investigations into the programs at companies.

Programs available only to certain races or that appear to give preferential treatment to them or other groups have been under particular scrutiny and are being adjusted to expand the audience.

Morgan Stanley in January deactivated a link for a college-scholarship and recruiting program its website described as being for members of groups that are “historically underrepresented in the financial services industry.”

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On Friday, JPMorgan released an annual report that evoked a very different tone about DEI from the previous year.

The country’s largest bank barely addresses its DEI practices, and said it expects continuing criticism from politicians and activists concerning them. {snip}

In recent weeks, HSBC’s diversity-and-inclusion webpage shrank from about 1,000 words to fewer than 100. Now gone from that page are diversity-data disclosures, information about employee resource groups and the company’s description of its strategy to advance inclusion.

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