Financial services juggernaut Charles Schwab Corp announced it will discontinue its political action committee (PAC) and no longer accept contributions from employees or make financial contributions to lawmakers.

Citing the divided political climate for its decision, Schwab said yesterday it plans to donate all remaining funds in the PAC to “worthwhile recipients” that have received regular support from the firm in the past: the Boys & Girls Club of America and historically Black colleges and universities.

“In light of a divided political climate and an increase in attacks on those participating in the political process, we believe a clear and apolitical position is in the best interest of our clients, employees, stockholders and the communities in which we operate,” the firm said in a statement.

“It is unfortunate that our efforts to advocate for investors are now being purposefully misrepresented by voices on both sides of the aisle as something they are not,” Schwab said.

With $4.1 trillion in assets and 14.1 million brokerage accounts reported in December, Charles Schwab is one of the largest broker-dealers in the nation. The firm has over 1,200 financial advisors, a division that serves an additional 7,000 registered investment advisors and 330 brick-and-mortar locations in 46 states.

“For the reasons stated previously, we will begin to shut down our PAC today.  But it is important to note we believe in the appropriateness of our previous approach, which included a unique and long-standing policy of dividing our support equally between Republicans and Democrats and not contributing to presidential candidates,” Schwab said. 

While Schwab is applying an across-the-board, bipartisan halt to PAC contributions, a host of businesses have announced they would cut off campaign contributions only to those who voted to challenge U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's victory.

Dissenting lawmakers, including Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), asked for a 10-day halt on the certification of Electoral College votes for an audit to investigate what they said were irregularities and potential fraud, shortly before a mob of thousands of Trump supporters rioted and stormed the Capitol.

The backlash has been extreme, with groups such as the Lincoln Project successfully lobbying campaigns to pressure corporations to single out lawmakers who objected to the certification of the electoral vote for publicized bans on future contributions. Dissenting lawmakers have reported that they, their families and staff have received death threats.

American Express, Airbnb, AT&T, Comcast, Dow, Google, Facebook, Ford Motors, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Mastercard and Microsoft and Nike have all agreed to halt contributions to Republicans who did not vote to certify the vote on January 6. In some cases, the companies said their decision would be temporary, such as Facebook saying it will pause for at least the first quarter.

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