Bessent Omitted $100,000 in Husband's JPMorgan Stock, Triggering Treasury Review
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 23
Bessent Omitted $100,000 in Husband's JPMorgan Stock, Triggering Treasury Review
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 23
Summary
$100,000 or more of Scott Bessent's husband's JPMorgan stock was misreported last year as cash in an undisclosed bank account on the Treasury secretary's financial disclosure.
A Treasury ethics note said the shares were divested in July after the error was caught, and Bessent paid a $200 late fee for failing to report the change on time.
The Treasury inspector general reviewed the case and found no "knowing violation" of the Ethics in Government Act, a conclusion the department's ethics official said he agreed with.
The lapse marks Bessent's second divestment-related compliance problem: the ethics office last August flagged his delayed sale of North Dakota soybean farmland, which he sold in December after seeking an extension.
The JPMorgan holding was not necessarily a direct conflict, but the disclosure issue lands as Bessent oversees the financial sector and met Chinese officials this week at JPMorgan's New York headquarters.