JPMorgan Chase announced Monday a $1.5 trillion initiative to promote US "critical industries," such as rare minerals, shipbuilding and nuclear energy.

The bank plans direct equity and venture capital investments of up to $10 billion in select companies, and will facilitate funding for ventures "critical to national economic security and resiliency," JPMorgan said on its website.

JPMorgan Chase is the biggest US bank by assets, controlling some $3.8 trillion in assets and a go-to financial behemoth for multinational corporations and other major institutions.

CEO Jamie Dimon described the initiative as a matter of "national security."

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, he pointed to recent conflicts in Ukraine and elsewhere as evidence that "should dispel any illusion that the world is saf

See Full Page