CEO of the Internal Revenue Service Frank Bisignano denied allegations that he spied on his fellow leaders while working at JPMorgan Chase more than a decade. “None of this is true,” Bisignano told CNBC on Tuesday.
Bisignano monitored his colleagues at JPMorgan while he was co-chief operating officer, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. He wanted Information to “maintain tight control over employees” and “fragment its rivals,” the Journal reported. One of the subjects of the surveillance was Charlie Scharf, now CEO of Wells Fargo, according to the Journal.
“Charlie called me last night. We had a good laugh about it,” Bisignano said.
Read more about CNBC’s politics coverageWells Fargo did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Bisignano’s remarks.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent praised Bisignano in a statement to CNBC sent after Bisignano’s on-air speech. “With decades of experience leading some of America’s most successful companies, Frank Bisignano brought proven executive leadership, operational excellence and a results-driven mindset to the IRS,” Bessent said.
“He has done a tremendous job providing better service to taxpayers, eliminating waste, modernizing operations and ensuring the agency works for the American people,” Bessent said.
CEO of JPMorgan Jamie Dimon released a statement in 2013 praising Bisignano after he left the bank. A spokesperson told CNBC on Tuesday that the bank “applauds [Bisignano’s] service to our country, both to the Social Security Administration and to the IRS,” without responding to the espionage allegations.
Bisignano left JPMorgan to run payment processor First Data in 2013. That company later merged with Fiserv.
Bisignano left Fiserv in 2025 to assume increasing responsibilities within the Trump administration. He was confirmed by the Senate as commissioner of the Social Security Administration in May 2025. Bessent appointed him in October to the newly created position of CEO of the IRS.
Bessent tasked Bisignano last week with overseeing the implementation of the Trump Account savings vehicle created by last year’s Republican tax and policy law, CNBC reported. He retains his leadership roles at the IRS and Social Security Administration.
Bisignano, as head of the IRS, signed an agreement with the president Donald Trump granting it immunity from certain tax audits. A federal judge last week criticized this regulation.
Bisignano is named in a shareholder class action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York. The suit alleges that Fiserv misled investors about its growth figures and that Bisignano benefited from an artificially inflated stock price.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Director General Frank Bisignano speaks during a House Ways and Means Subcommittee hearing on Social Security in Washington, DC, U.S., Wednesday, June 10, 2026.
Tierney L. Cross | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A lawyer for Bisignano did not immediately respond to a question from CNBC about the lawsuit, but declined to comment to The Wall Street Journal on active litigation and said much of the stock price decline took place under Mike Lyons, who succeeded Bisignano as CEO.
Fiserv the stock price fell sharply after Bisignano left for the Trump administration. Bisignano sold Fiserv stock to meet his ethical obligations to the federal government. At least $77 million of those sales occurred in July 2025, after Bisignano left the company but during a blackout period that covered existing executives, the Journal reported.
Lyons told investors in July 2025 after these sales that Fiserv would need to revise its guidance. In October, Lyons said it would be “objectively difficult to meet” the company’s shareholder guidance initially set under Bisignano and that Fiserv would undergo a “critical and necessary reset.”
Fiserv shares are down 78% from their March 2025 high under Bisignano through Tuesday morning, according to Factset data. Lyons has since left Fiserv.
Bisignano said he was no longer at Fiserv when asked on CNBC about the company’s declining stock price. “I know they’ve been through a change in management. It’s never been…this good.”
Fiserv did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
