(15 February – USA) Jamie Dimon, the chief executive officer of JP Morgan Chase has said that if banks are forced by regulators to hold too much excess capital it could lead to some banks “doing stupid things”.Mr Dimon said this week that current regulations surrounding capital were strong enough, and that the current 7 percent tier one common ratios needed to meet Basel 3 requirements were “completely sufficient”.
‘JP Morgan went through the worst crisis of all time and did fine,’ Mr Dimon said.
‘In 12 months we may be looking at a lot of capital and maybe it will make some people do some stupid things,” Mr Dimon added. Though Mr Dimon was adamant that JP Morgan would not be one of the banks to “do something dumb”.
Mr Dimon said the investment bank would look at add-on acquisitions but likely wouldn’t do a big one.
‘We aren’t looking to do some big ones,’ Mr Dimon said, before adding ‘if they represent themselves, so be it’.
He said organic growth was the way the bank planned to grow.
‘Organic is the way you earn your trust in the world,’ Mr Dimon said.
JP Morgan has been among the banks expected to increase its dividend as soon as it is allowed by regulators, likely coming next month.
Mr Dimon has said he expects a payout ratio of 35 percent of the bank’s net income in dividends, a level that is slightly higher than some competitors have forecast.