JPMorgan CEO says US banks are ‘in good shape’ under Trump

Open the White House Watch newsletter for free

Your guide to what the 2024 US elections mean for Washington and the world

US banks are “off to a good start” and their “animal instincts are alive,” according to a senior JPMorgan Chase executive, as Wall Street bets that lighter regulation under President Donald Trump will spur deal-making at the nation’s largest bank. the world. economy.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, Marie Erdoes, head of asset and wealth management at the Wall Street bank, said she was “optimistic” that Trump’s regulatory approach would boost the economy. American economywhich removes some of the burden that the Joe Biden administration has placed on the banking industry.

“If you look at the last administration and the number of significant new regulations, it was eight times the number of significant new regulations than the previous Trump administration,” said Erdos, who is seen as a contender for success. Jamie Damon At JP Morgan.

“And with that comes many millions of hours of paperwork. Work . . . that clogs up the system and prevents the economy from continuing to maintain a very healthy flywheel. So we’re really looking forward to that.”

Erdos’s comments come as executives in Europe worry that the light-hearted regulatory approach favored by Trump could put European banks at a competitive disadvantage if regulators on the continent demand stricter enforcement of rules such as Basel 3.1.

Speaking before the same committee on Tuesday, Bill Winters, chief executive of Standard Chartered Bank, said it was important that the rules be “set globally consistently, so that we don’t have this arbitrage from one market to another”.

While Europe may find it difficult to roll back some regulations, the UK could lean heavily towards the US system, according to a senior banking executive.

“The UK government will be at the forefront of deregulation,” the executive said. “They have delayed implementation of Basel III to see how or whether it will be implemented in the United States.”

Meanwhile, JPMorgan’s Erdos said that easing regulatory restrictions in the US could lead to more deal-making and companies going public. “Companies do not want to go public or cannot go public because of the heavy regulatory burden, and we hope to see that (change),” she said.

She added that JP Morgan created a “war room” to analyze and evaluate Trump’s executive orders overnight and praised the US President’s decision to ban remote work for federal employees. This month, JPMorgan said it would ask all employees to return to their offices five days a week starting in March.

“Time will tell, but a lot of this is exactly what you would do to have a very pro-business environment,” Erdos said. “Thank God the U.S. government did that, and we hope it keeps us ahead of other governments in the world so we can continue to compete.”