MW How JPMorgan became the latest Wall Street firm to have its research in Scott Bessent's crosshairs

By Jules Rimmer

Treasury secretary takes exception to JPMorgan's note on insuring shipping traffic

"Flawed... irresponsible... terrible... inaccurate" just a few of the things Treasury Secretary Bessent said about JPMorgan's research

JPMorgan's head of global commodities research, Natasha Kaneva, is the latest Wall Street researcher to draw the ire of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

After a note published March 4 expressing skepticism about the U.S. government's ability to offer adequate insurance to all vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, Bessent slammed it as, among other things, "terrible", "flawed", "completely inaccurate" and "irresponsible" when interviewed by Larry Kudlow on Fox Business.

This isn't the first time Bessent has taken issue publicly with investment banks over their research. Back in January at the peak of the furore over Greenland, the Treasury Secretary openly berated Deutsche Bank's George Saravelos after the currency strategist speculated that European institutions could dump $8 trillion of U.S. Treasurys over President Donald Trump's threats to annex Greenland and impose tariffs on those countries who objected.

Back then, Bessent claimed Deutsche Bank's chief executive officer, Christian Sewing, had called to apologize for the report and to distance itself from the comments. Thus far JPMorgan's CEO, Jamie Dimon, has made no such comment about research written by his commodities team.

A message to both JPMorgan and the analyst were not immediately returned.

The criticism leveled by Bessent centers on a note published by Kaneva and team last Wednesday in response to Trump's suggestion that a government agency - the Development Finance Corporation - would offer insurance on shipping tankers currently reluctant to run the gauntlet of Iranian missile and drone attacks as they pass through a narrow chokepoint.

Strait of Hormuz exports before and after disruptions

Kaneva had calculated that roughly $352 billion of maximum insurance coverage was required but the DFC, unless authorized by Congress, was only in a position to increase its maximum contingent liability to $205 billion, leaving approximately $154 billion exposure uninsured.

Given the spike in oil prices (CL00) (BRN00) in the last week to well north of $100, with all its attendant risks for inflation and the stock market ahead of crucial mid-term elections in November, the Trump administration is very sensitive at present to both energy price rises and whom voters hold accountable for them. With the number of ships progressing through the strait reduced to a mere trickle, or none at all, the White House is anxious to secure the free flow of shipping traffic as soon as possible.

Bessent argued during his televised interview that the cover required was less than JPMorgan assessed because once the ships had passed through the strait then they would be able to revert to normal insurance.

-Jules Rimmer

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March 09, 2026 05:21 ET (09:21 GMT)

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