JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon on Monday launched a surprise attack on the Biden-Harris administration by attacking Dem-backed regulators’ “assault” of red tape.
The Queens native, who is reportedly interested in becoming US Treasury Secretary if Kamala Harris wins the election, sharply rebuked bureaucrats in Washington for harassing the industry with new regulations.
“It’s time to fight back,” Dimon told a conference of bankers in New York. “I’ve found it with this girl.”
“Many banks are afraid to fight their regulators, because they will come and punish you,” he said.
“We do not want to get involved in litigation just to express our views,” he said. But I think if you’re in a knife fight, you better bring a knife.”
The 68-year-old criticized the current administration’s plans to regulate the US banking industry and rejected a list of what he described as ill-conceived regulations.
Dimon created a blueprint intended to help banks withstand major economic shocks by forcing them to hold more capital on their balance sheets to weather any financial storm.
The proposal, known as Basel III, would have major lenders increase that emergency buffer to 9%. The experienced banker warned that “the devil will be in the details.”
“We are suing our regulators over and over again because things are becoming unfair and unjust, and they are hurting companies, many of these regulations are hurting low-wage individuals,” he said.
Dimon indicated that the plans would not survive after the November 5 presidential election, suggesting that they were based on “foolish calculations”.
“My biggest problem with all these overlapping regulations is that we’re not stepping back and saying what can we do better to make the system work better,” he said at the American Bankers Association’s annual forum. ” Lobby for the US financial sector.
JPMorgan’s top boss also criticized Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra over a new rule that would make it easier for consumers to transfer their personal data between financial services providers.
Two banking lobby groups have already filed a lawsuit saying the CFPB has “violated its statutory mandate.”
Dimon, a staunch ally of leftist senator Elizabeth Warren, said, “Rohit is a very smart person with one major flaw, which I told him personally, which is that you tend to justify what you already think. You use your brain.”
Last week, The New York Times reiterated a September 12 story by The Post’s own Charles Gasparino that JPMorgan’s chief executive would prefer a role in any future Harris administration.
But the vice president’s chances of victory appear to be diminishing, as former President Donald Trump continues to gain momentum in the polls with just over a week remaining until Election Day.
Dimon himself told Wall Street analysts two weeks ago that the chances of him leaving the bank for the top government job were “almost zero.”
