JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon threw down the gauntlet in a speech Tuesday — at least as a joke: He said his bank will outlast the Chinese Communist Party.
“I made a joke the other day that the Communist Party is celebrating its 100th year — so is JPMorgan,” Dimon said. “I’d make a bet that we last longer.”
He acknowledged the eyebrow-raising nature of his comments. “I can’t say that in China,” Dimon said. “They are probably listening anyway.”
The bank first entered China in 1921, the same year the country’s Communist Party was established.
He reiterated JPMorgan’s commitment to operating in the country even as he acknowledged longstanding tensions with the US. He said issues like unfair trade practices should’ve been addressed earlier — but added JPMorgan can’t sever business ties with a country just because it disagrees with a policy.
In August, JPMorgan was granted permission from the Chinese government to take full and independent ownership of its securities business. It was the first foreign bank to win this approval. At the time, Dimon said, “China represents one of the largest opportunities in the world for many of our clients and for JPMorgan Chase.”
Dimon also addressed hot topics including the US economy and cryptocurrencies in his wide-ranging remarks Tuesday.
The hard-charging CEO said he believes the US economy is “booming” and expects more monetary and fiscal stimulus. He said inflation worries will soon pass as supply chain worries are ironed out.
He was less optimistic about oil. “There are other things which are probably not that transitory … I don’t think oil prices are going down,” Dimon said.
And Dimon was, once again, highly skeptical on cryptocurrency.
“It is not really a currency … It is hysteria,” he said. Dimon has made countless headlines slamming cryptocurrencies as “worthless.”
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