Jamie Dimon Says Succession at JPMorgan Is ‘Well on the Way’

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(Bloomberg) — Jamie Dimon has long joked that his retirement will be five years away, no matter when he's asked. But not on Monday.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s CEO told shareholders the timeline is “not five years anymore,” in response to a question about how long he plans to stay on as CEO. The largest U.S. bank is “on the right track” with its succession plans, he said during the company's investor day.

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The question of who might take over the company after Dimon — who has held the top job since 2006 — looms large over the industry. Earlier this year — in the middle of a roughly five-year retention package — the 68-year-old CEO moved some of his top lieutenants to new senior positions, bringing them more experience running the company's operations while he grooms potential successors. .

The change puts Gene Bebczak and Troy Rohrbaugh at the helm of the expanded commercial and investment bank, while Marian Lake, who has co-led the consumer and community bank alongside Bebczak since 2021, gained sole control of the sector, overseeing more of its business lines.

“It's up to the board, not up to me,” Dimon said Monday. “I have the energy I've always had. That's important. I think when I can't put the jersey on and do my best, I basically have to leave.”

Enhance guidance

Earlier, the bank raised its forecast for net interest income for this year to $91 billion after last month forecasting $90 billion, against the backdrop of lower-than-expected interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. Fewer customers are also transferring money to accounts with higher returns than expected, according to the bank. In the first quarter, JPMorgan posted $23.1 billion of National Insurance, breaking a streak of seven-quarter records for the measure.

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JPMorgan also detailed the potential ramifications of the proposed plan to increase capital requirements for major banks. Fed officials have indicated that the proposals, known as the Basel III endgame, will be scaled back. Bloomberg reported that agencies are working on a new version that could be finalized as soon as August.

Read more: US discusses finalizing bank capital rules in August

Even with the possibility of stricter capital requirements, JPMorgan expects to achieve a 17% return on tangible common equity over the medium term, it said in its presentation earlier. The excess capital supports increased share buybacks, although the bank said it remains cautious. Dimon was quick to temper expectations about the pace of these buybacks.

“We will not buy back a lot of shares at these prices,” he said, adding that the bank will be more aggressive about buybacks when its share prices fall. Shares fell after his comments and were down 3.2% at 2:02pm in New York. They closed at a record high last week and are up nearly 16% since the beginning of the year.

Basel criticized

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Dimon, who has long been a vocal critic of the Basel proposals among his Wall Street peers, repeated his criticism that they would hurt poorer consumers, pushing some of them out of the banking system. He said that the organization “is harming America at this stage.”

JPMorgan said earlier on Monday that two-thirds of consumers would likely have to pay monthly service fees for their checking accounts if current proposals are implemented. JPMorgan said this did not reflect its current plans to deal with the rules.

The regulatory onslaught, as Consumer and Community Bank CEO LLC called it during her presentation, has the potential to profoundly impact consumers, she said.

“These rules have not been adequately studied, and the people who will end up being affected the most are everyday Americans, particularly those who cannot afford them,” Lake said.

Promote mid-teens

In addition to Lake, investors also heard from Bebczak and Rohrbaugh about progress at JPMorgan's commercial and investment bank.

JPMorgan expects the emergence of a deal recovery to help boost second-quarter investment banking fees by a percentage in the “mid-teens” compared to the previous year, Rohrbaugh said.

For the markets business, the increase is likely to be in the “mid-numbers,” he said.

(Updates with length of time in third paragraph.)

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