Charles Schwab to suspend PAC political donations until 2021

• Charles Schwab said in a statement that his Political Action Committee (PAC) would stop contributions to all lawmakers for the remainder of this year.
• The wealth manager and brokerage founded by Charles R. Schwab, who serves as the company’s chairman and is a major Republican donor, cited “the extraordinary circumstances associated with this election cycle.”
• As a policy, the company’s PAC splits contributions equally between Democrats and Republicans.
• Data from Open Secrets from the Center for Responsive Politics also shows that 67%, or approximately $923,000, of personal contributions to Congress made for the 2020 election cycle by any individual donor whose employer the FEC lists as Charles Schwab are went to the Republicans.
• Many financial services firms and businesses in other industries have said in recent days that they will re-examine their political donation spending policies in light of the Capitol riots last week.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Charles Schwab, the investment manager and brokerage whose namesake founder and chairman donated millions of dollars to keep Republicans in power, said in a statement provided to Insider on Sunday that his political action committee would halt contributions to all legislators for the remainder of this year.

The company cited “the extraordinary circumstances surrounding this election cycle,” without explicitly mentioning the violent crowd of Trump supporters on the U.S. Capitol last week, which prompted many financial services and other companies to suspend all or part of contributions. policies, or review their political donations.

“This pause will give the company the opportunity to assess the best way forward to fulfill our long-standing commitment to championing the interests of individual investors and those who serve them,” the statement said.

All of the company’s political contributions are made solely through its PAC, which is made up of voluntary contributions from Charles Schwab employees and directors, the company said. Charles Schwab’s PAC does not contribute to presidential candidates.

Charles R. Schwab has made significant contributions to Republican causes and candidates in recent years. He and his wife, Helen O’Neill Schwab, together donated more than $7.5 million between April and October 2020 to conservative causes, according to data from Open Secrets of the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics.

Federal Election Commission Public Records show that last October he donated $2,800 to Kansans for Marshall, an initiative to support Republican Senator Roger Marshall, who initially said he would not certify the election of President-elect Joe Biden, as well as other Republican senators. He later said he would certify it.

As a policy, the company’s PAC splits contributions equally between Democrats and Republicans.

Open Secrets data also shows that 67%, or approximately $923,000, of all personal contributions to Congress made for the 2020 election cycle by any individual donor whose employer the FEC lists as Charles Schwab went to Republicans.

According to the analysis, which uses data from the Federal Election Commission, an additional $429,000 in contributions from people whose employers are listed as Schwab went to Democrats. Nearly $31,000 went to other candidates.

Many financial services firms and businesses in other industries have said in recent days that they will re-examine their political donation spending policies in light of the Capitol riots last week. The Popular Information newsletter first reported on the steps companies are taking to review their political donations.

Read more: JPMorgan Chase says it won’t donate money to Biden’s inauguration as president-elect’s team seeks $1 million corporate donations

“In light of the horrific events in the nation’s capital, BlackRock has decided to suspend further campaign donations from public officials of the BlackRock PAC, while we conduct a thorough review of the events and assess how we will focus our political activity at the future.” Kate Fulton, head of U.S. public policy at BlackRock, told U.S. employees on Monday, according to a memo provided by the company to Insider.

Vanguard, the private fund manager overseeing $6.9 trillion in assets as of Nov. 30, said in a statement to Insider on Monday that in December it “suspended our PAC activity to allow for a thorough review of our program. “. A spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests to clarify what prompted the review.

Some companies have taken steps in recent days to distance themselves from Trump after the president incited the riot on Capitol Hill. Stripe, the private fintech company that handles online payments, will no longer process payments for Trump’s campaign website, the The Wall Street Journal first reported on Sunday.