Jamie Dimon said JPMorgan Chase could have a chance in the next couple of years to put $10 billion to $20 billion to work buying something, signaling that the biggest US bank is again looking beyond its core business after years of restraint. Speaking at a banking conference on Wednesday, he said the lender would explain why any deal was a great purchase.
Dimon said the bank expected to have $40 billion to $50 billion in excess capital above what regulators require, and added that it was “quite patient with capital” and that the money was not “burning a hole in our pocket.” The comments put a number on a war chest that has been building as JPMorgan, already the country’s biggest bank by assets, weighs where it might strike next.
The bank cannot simply buy another deposit-taking lender under US law because it already holds more than 10 per cent of the nation’s deposits. That restriction helped shape JPMorgan’s last major deal in this area, when it was granted an exemption in 2023 to buy First Republic in a government-run auction after the lender failed. Dimon’s latest remarks suggest any future move would likely have to come from a different kind of target, or from a regulatory opening that does not exist today.
The comments also land against the backdrop of fresh scrutiny on Dimon himself. Earlier this month, he fought off an investor rebellion that sought to split his roles as chief executive and chairman and install an independent chair. He has been JPMorgan’s chief executive since Dec. 31, 2005, and chairman since 2006, giving him unusual control at a bank that now serves 86 million consumers and 7.4 million business clients in the United States, along with about 2.5 million customers at its UK digital bank, Chase.
Dimon’s tone on acquisitions was paired with a broader message that JPMorgan sees momentum across its markets businesses. He said investment banking fees were expected to be up around 10 per cent in the second quarter from a year earlier, while the first quarter’s trading haul should continue amid market jitters. He also said mergers and acquisitions were having what amounted to the best year he could remember and that equity markets were going to be huge this year.
That outlook helps explain why JPMorgan is willing to keep capital on the sidelines rather than rush into a transaction. The bank said earlier this year it expected to spend an extra $1 billion beyond forecasts, lifting annual costs to $106 billion, a reminder that even for a lender with deep pockets, discipline still matters. For now, Dimon is saying the same thing twice: JPMorgan is looking, but only for a deal it can defend.
