The longtime leader of the country's biggest bank said that he wished for better relations between business leaders and regulators, but he also took aim at the proposed Basel III endgame rules, hindrances to mergers and bureaucratic burdens. And he remained coy about whether he has interest in a future government post.
"I would love to have a more productive relationship with regulators, but I think it takes conversation," Dimon said. "I think we're kind of through the looking glass at this point."
Dimon said that there are legitimate issues to fix in the banking system, but that not enough forethought is put into what regulators are trying to accomplish with various rules. He pointed to the migration of mortgages to nonbank lenders as an example, arguing that the trend has greatly diminished mortgages for low-income households.
He also said that enhanced regulatory scrutiny has been making it harder for smaller banks. He contrasted their scarce resources with the $2 billion that
Some of Dimon's qualms relate to what he sees as a dissonance between society's problems — such as the need for better education, upskilling the workforce and expanding access to homeownership — and the regulations being rolled out.
"I would like to see more collaboration between government and business regulators," Dimon said. "I think we're missing a lot of opportunities to help educate kids and get jobs and lift up parts of society. If you look at the government in America, less and less do you have practitioners at the table. That's true for regulators, it's true for cabinet members, it's true for people inside the government."
Regarding last spring's turmoil, when Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank all collapsed, Dimon apportioned blame to both the banks and their regulators.
"I don't know how that type of stuff happens, and I blame the banks," Dimon said. "I think the regulators also should blame themselves, but I blame the banks, CEOs for the most part, management teams."
The "mini bank crisis" is likely over, as long as interest rates don't go up and trigger a recession, Dimon added.
"Obviously if you're a bank with interest rate exposure, and you haven't protected yourself, you can be hurt in that," he said. "And obviously, it'll affect real estate, and so you can have this kind of double triple whammy affecting some banks."
Dimon, who has recently been relatively downbeat about the U.S. economic outlook, said Tuesday that he is cautiously anticipating a soft economic landing. He added that even if there is a recession, the American consumer is wealthier and in better shape than before.
When asked if holding a position in government is a real possibility for him, the 68-year-old chief executive quipped, "I've always said I'd love to be president, but you'd have to anoint me, folks."
