JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s diatribes against his fellow bankers are taking on biblical proportions. (Bloomberg)
Bank boss Jamie Dimon is done with doing penance.
When it comes to his bank rivals, however, they still have a lot to atone for.
Fresh from taking his lashes over the London Whale trading debacle, the JPMorgan Chase chieftain yesterday was arguing for Old Testament-style justice for his misbehaving peers while striking humorous notes about his own bank’s flubs.
“I want to call it ‘bankruptcy for big dumb banks.’ There should be some form of Old Testament justice including clawback [compensation],” said Dimon in front of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce.
Onlookers would hardly have guessed that the 56-year-old Wall Street titan had his own pay slashed by 50 percent, to $11.5 million, just a couple of weeks ago as punishment for the lax management that led to the whopping $6.2 billion loss.
With the firm racking up record fourth-quarter profits of $5.7 billion on top of $23.7 billion in revenues, Dimon dropped the penitent stance that has been his default since the bungled trade was made public in press reports last May.
At times, Dimon, wearing a blue blazer without a tie, seemed like he was delivering a stand-up comedy routine rather than commenting on the state of the economy.
He cracked up the audience with his one-liners, including: “I know we make mistakes. In fact, we will always make mistakes. You may read about the big ones in the press.”
Dimon continued: “I assure you there are plenty of others I could describe also if you want me to go through, but I’m not because there’s press in the room.”
For the most part, the bank honcho struck a sanguine tone about the economy but added that congressional leaders need to put in place policies that encourage growth.
“I think we’re making it difficult for America to grow,” he said on a much more businesslike note.