JPMorgan to shut investment accounts for foreign retail clients

[NEW YORK] JPMorgan Chase & Co. retail clients who don't live in the US will no longer be able to keep investment accounts as the bank shuts a business that it's operated for decades.

"After careful review, we've decided to no longer service Chase retail investment accounts to non-US residents," said Elizabeth Seymour, a JPMorgan spokeswoman. "This decision allows us to focus on our domestic business which remains core to our long-term growth."

Customers of the retail bank who live in about 50 countries outside of the US will still be able to keep deposit accounts, but their investment accounts with International Financial Services will be closed, according to people briefed on the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information isn't public. JPMorgan's private-bank clients won't be affected, the people said.

JPMorgan started communicating the exit to some clients last week, two of the people said. The bank told retail investors in Mexico it plans to stop servicing investment accounts and may liquidate account assets if they're not moved by Nov. 1, according to a copy of a notice from Chase Wealth Management seen by Bloomberg.

The affected accounts represent less than 1 per cent of Chase retail investment accounts and assets, one of the people said. JPMorgan had US$283.7 billion in client investment assets at the end of June in the division that caters to retail clients and small businesses, according to a filing.

IFS employees, who are part of Chase's consumer and community bank, are being offered new roles, one of the people said.

BLOOMBERG