JPMorgan Chase has blackballed the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity as a client.
Bloomberg News' John Hechinger and David Glovin report that JPMorgan sent a letter on March 7 saying that it would stop managing SAE's charitable foundation account, which had about $500,000 in it.
The reason JPMorgan severed ties was that the firm was concerned about the frat's reputation, the report said, citing a JPMorgan vice president who worked with the foundation.
A spokesperson for JPMorgan declined to comment in the Bloomberg report.
SAE has been called the "deadliest" frat. Since 2006, nine of its members have died from drugs, alcohol and hazing, either during or right after SAE-related events.
The day that the JPMorgan letter was received, SAE's national office decided to get rid of pledging. Now, anyone who accepts a bid from the fraternity will become a collegiate member who's considered an equal to the current members. They will no longer be considered a "pledge."
SAE is one of the largest frats in the U.S. It also has a stacked Wall Street alumni base. Prominent alums in finance include, Paul Tudor Jones II (University of Virginia), Maverick Capital's Lee Ainslie III (UVA) T. Boone Pickens (Oklahoma State University) and Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn (Cornell) and Greenlight's CIO Daniel Roitman (Cornell).