JP Morgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon warns of ‘most dangerous time’: “We are all climbing the wall of worry a bit”

JP Morgan’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon, warned of “far-reaching impacts” from the conflicts in Israel and Ukraine.
Photo: Reuters

JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup said that consumers continued to borrow and spend, but their chiefs warned that geopolitical risks were intensifying, writes ‘The New York Times’.

JPMorgan Chase’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon sounded a major alarm about the global effects of the conflict in Israel and Gaza. “This may be the most dangerous time the world has seen in decades,” he said in a statement accompanying the bank’s quarterly earnings.

He warned of “far-reaching impacts on energy and food markets, global trade and geopolitical relationships.”

For Mr. Dimon, weighing in on geopolitics isn’t new: He consistently warns of dangers from the war in Ukraine and elsewhere.

He was preparing the nation’s largest bank for a range of scary outcomes, with other risks including high inflation and rising interest rates. But on a call with reporters, he described the conflict in Israel and Gaza as “the highest and most important thing for the Western world.”

Otherwise, JPMorgan and other big banks appear to be operating smoothly. JPMorgan’s profit rose to $13.2 billion in the third quarter, a 35 percent rise from the same period last year. Executives at the bank said the tumult of the regional banking crisis of the spring, which resulted in JPMorgan taking over First Republic, was steadily fading.

Wells Fargo, too, reported earnings that beat analysts’ expectations: Third-quarter profit was $5.8 billion, up 61 percent from last year. But the bank’s chief executive, Charles W. Scharf, warned that he was seeing some signs of stress among customers.

“The consumer remains quite resilient,” said Mark Mason, Citigroup’s chief financial officer. Payment rates were edging lower and spending was slowing, but only slightly. A so-called soft landing for the economy was increasingly likely, he added.

All of the banks, said Mr. Dimon, are in regular contact with one another about the potential effects of international conflicts. “We are all climbing the wall of worry a bit,” he said.

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