Inside The ‘Ideological’ Bank Profiting Off Democrat Dollars And Funneling The Money Back To Leftist Causes

Amalgamated Bank, which has just five branches in three cities, seems unlikely to be a major player and changer on Wall Street, or Washington, D.C. But it was able to convince Visa, Mastercard, American Express and other major credit card companies to use the financial systems to track and report gun sales last fall. Amalgamated is “more than a bank,” Michael Watson, Capital Research Center “It’s a bank for an ideological movement.” 

This “ideological” The bank has $7 billion in deposits and is responsible for managing or maintaining custody of approximately $51 billion. This is a far cry from financial institutions like JP Morgan with $2.4 trillion in deposits or the $8.6 billion in assets managed and maintained by BlackRock. But Amalgamated’s outsize influence owes to its role as cue to the wider corporate world given the major sources of that money – the Democratic Party, progressive activist groups, and major labor unions. 

Amalgamated can be described as Commercial banker For the Democratic National Committee, Joe Biden, virtually every 2020 presidential candidate, and congressional leaders such as Rep. Nancy Pelosi. Amalgamated was a success. Serves More than 500 political organisations. The New York Times It is also known as Amalgamated. “the left’s private banker.” 

The bank also works closely with more than 1,000 unions, including the nation’s second-largest union, the Service Employees International Union – alongside other behemoth government employee unions. Amalgamated’s trust business and investment management business is dominated by institutional clients, which includes union pension funds. 

Amalgamated may be a model for progressive politicians, activists, and corporations to work together outside of the political process because of its deep ties with the Democratic Party. Andrew Ross Sorkin, a New York Times financial journalist, wrote it in a July 2022. Conversation Priscilla Simmons-Brown, Amalgamated CEO “We’re at quite a moment, and your bank is a microcosm of so much of it.” 

Amalgamated was particularly active in promotion anti-gun efforts. The original initiative that put the bank on Congress Republicans’ radar was advocated By Sorkin After several mass shootings in 2018, the Times columnist suggested to banks and credit card processors that they develop gun retailer-specific software. Codes for merchant categories (MCCs). Cardholders who make purchases with American Express, Mastercard or Visa cards are reported to the payment brand using a code that can track customer activities.  

Amalgamated joined the fight and petitioned the International Organization for Standardization for a new code for credit cards. It covered standalone ammunition and guns retail stores. Months later, Senate and House Democrats voted on companion bills to direct Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which collects information from financial institutions in order to develop. “an advisory regarding the reporting of suspicious transactions related to gun violence.”

While the bills remained unpaid, there was some relief. Gun Violence Prevention Caucus Senate Democrats intends to bring it back. Sorkin, who did not respond to RealClearInvestigations inquiries about his activism, That was my opinion The code would be “only the beginning” Of a wider gun control effort.  

Republican senators submitted a response Let me know The code is aimed at “to target, surveil and discourage gun and ammunition sellers.” They also added: “Your actions were a major step toward targeting law-abiding Americans exercising their right to purchase firearms.” 

Amalgamated is also a leader in the push for green initiatives within the financial sector. Amalgamated reported in April 2021 that it had been instrumental in the launch of the Green Banking Initiative. Net Zero Banking Alliance. The financial subgroup of a larger, United Nations-backed coalition is made up of 119 banks with assets totaling $70 trillion. “committed to aligning their lending and investment portfolios with net-zero emissions by 2050.” 

Last October, attorneys general representing 19 states revealed they were investigating six major U.S. banks over their participation in the alliance – excluding Amalgamated. Senator Eric Schmitt is a Republican and the former Missouri Attorney General.  The states were investigating the “banks for ceding authority to the U.N., which will only result in the killing of American companies that don’t subscribe to the woke, climate agenda.” 

RealClearInvestigations contacted the offices of several attorneys general leading the probe to ask if Amalgamated had become a subject of their investigation given its role in the alliance. The Missouri AG’s office said that they had no comment as the investigation was still ongoing. 

Amalgamated also submitted Input on, and Formally endorsed, relevant regulations proposed by the Biden SEC, such as its controversial proposed climate risk disclosure rule. Amalgamated was Amalgamated’s sole banker during the Biden presidential campaign. 

The Senate is now in the hands of Democrats. It is not clear if Republican leaders from the Banking and Judiciary Committees, who put Amalgamated on notice last autumn for its gun control push, will continue to do so. Like their Senate counterparts, House Financial Services Committee Republicans were tight-lipped when RealClearInvestigations inquired about any pending Amalgamated probe.

Some critics argue that Amalgamated’s extraordinary business model – leveraging money from Democrats and unions, including those of public sector employees, to pursue policies often championed by those very clients – creates novel conflicts. Richard Morrison, senior fellow at the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute, told RealClearInvestigations that “to the extent” Amalgamated has “clients who are policymakers … they should be scrutinized over whether the progressive policy changes they’re lobbying for will benefit them … and whether their influential clients exerted any influence to make such changes happen.”

However, he added that “If other corporations can lobby for lower corporate tax rates, Amalgamated can lobby for gun control measures.”

This article was made with permission by a RealClearInvestigations article published Feb. 7.

Ben Weingarten is deputy editor for RealClearInvestigations. He is a Senior Contributor to The Federalist, Columnist at Newsweek, as well as a contributor to The New York Post, Epoch Times, and other publications. Subscribe to his newsletter at weingarten.substack.com, and follow him on Twitter: @bhweingarten.