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Jamie Dimon, the bank’s chief executive, has deep political connections, and his prognostications on the economy are scrutinized in some circles as closely as a central banker’s musings. The U.S. economy “continues to perform better than many had expected,” said Charles W. Scharf, the bank’s chief executive. Unlike the other banks, Citigroup reported a fall in second-quarter profit, although the decline was not as severe as analysts had predicted. The U.S. government debt-limit standoff in April and May was also reflected in the banks’ results, with Citi citing anxiety during the negotiations as pushing investment-banking clients to the “sidelines” during the second quarter. What’s NextIn the next week or so, a slew of other banks will report quarterly earnings.

Persons: Jamie Dimon, Dimon, didn’t, ”, Wells, “, Charles W, Scharf, Jane Fraser, Goldman Sachs Organizations: JPMorgan, Treasury, Citigroup, Citi, Western Alliance and Comerica Locations: U.S, Wells Fargo, Republic

☆ JPMorgan’s Profit Jumps, but Interest Rates Remain a Threat
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Rob Copeland | More About Rob Copeland | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Why It MattersGiven its size, JPMorgan is a proxy for the banking industry at large. Jamie Dimon, the bank’s chief executive, has deep political connections and his prognostications on the economy are scrutinized in some circles as closely as a central banker’s musings. On Friday, in a statement, Mr. Dimon said the U.S. economy was “resilient,” echoing language he has used repeatedly this year, but listed a litany of risks, including that consumers are burning through their cash buffers and that inflation remains high. BackgroundJPMorgan and Mr. Dimon have been all over the news this year, thanks to their prominent role as an attempted stabilizing force during the spring’s banking crisis that felled three smaller lenders. What’s NextThe next week or so will see a slew of other banks report their quarterly earnings.

Persons: Jamie Dimon, Dimon, Goldman Sachs Organizations: JPMorgan, Treasury, Western Alliance and Comerica Locations: U.S, Republic

The overhaul would require the largest banks to increase their holdings of capital — cash and other readily available assets that can be used to absorb losses in times of trouble. Mr. Barr predicted that his tweaks would be “equivalent to requiring the largest banks hold an additional two percentage points of capital,” if they are implemented. “The beauty of capital is that it doesn’t care about the source of the loss,” Mr. Barr said in his speech previewing the proposed changes. If the Fed Board votes to institute them, their implementations will involve transition time. But the sweeping set of changes that he set out meaningfully tweak both how banks police their own risks and are overseen by government regulators.

Persons: Michael S, Barr, ratcheting, Mr Organizations: Federal, Monday Locations: ”

☆ ‘Do You Even Want Us to Exist?’ A Bank Chief Fights to Survive.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Rob Copeland | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Vecchione said he had never spoken to Ms. Yellen or her staff before this year, and now he receives check-in calls from the deputy Treasury secretary, Wally Adeyemo. He said he had been asking regulators lately, “Do you even want us to exist?”There is a model for a more concentrated banking sector. In Canada, six banks dominate 90 percent of the market, versus about 50 percent for the six largest banks in the United States. Experts say there is little incentive for banks in Canada to take outsize risks, though there is also relatively little competition, which means borrowers may face higher interest rates. “I don’t think we want to get to the point of six banks, because that would really stifle lending,” said Ben Gerlinger, a regional bank analyst at Hovde Group.

Persons: Jamie Dimon, Janet L, Yellen, Vecchione, Wally Adeyemo, ”, Ben Gerlinger Organizations: JPMorgan, Experts, Hovde Group Locations: Canada, United States

☆ Harvey Pitt, S.E.C. Chair Who Resigned Amid Scandals, Dies at 78
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Rob Copeland | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Harvey Pitt, a legal wunderkind who lasted just 18 months as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission under President George W. Bush, died on Tuesday in Washington. His death, in a hospital, came after a sudden illness, according to his family, which did not specify the ailment. Mr. Pitt’s career had three consecutive legs, any one of which alone might have been the pinnacle on a lesser résumé. He began his career at the S.E.C. After only three years, he left to represent corporate clients for the powerful law firm Fried Frank.

Persons: Harvey Pitt, George W, Bush, Pitt’s, Fried Frank, Sen, Charles Schumer, Pitt Organizations: Securities and Exchange Commission Locations: Washington, firm’s Washington, New York, U.S

☆ The war for hedge-fund talent has traders getting paid like star athletes
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Matt Turner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Money is pouring into the hedge fund business, adding to a war for talent. Maybe a bunch of NBA or NFL players end up on a trading floor for charity. The war for talent is partly a reflection of hedge-fund performance. My colleague Alex Morrell wrote recently:After years of relative quiet, macro strategies at hedge funds surged back to life in 2022 amid rising interest rates, inflation, and geopolitical convulsions. Writing for Insider recently, hedge-fund recruiter John Pierson said that "the competition for investment talent is escalating, and finding top portfolio managers is no longer a contact sport — it's an all-out war."

Persons: Bloomberg's Nishant Kumar, Maureen Farrell, Rob Copeland, Tom Brady, Steph Curry, Lamar Jackson's, Alex Morrell, Brevan Howard, Rokos, John Pierson Organizations: Millennium, Citadel, Morning, NBA, New York Times, Times, Golden State Warriors, ESPN, NFL, Baltimore Ravens, Premier League

☆ James Gorman, Morgan Stanley’s Long-Serving C.E.O., to Step Down Within a Year
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Rob Copeland | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Mr. Gorman took over the bank in 2010, after Morgan Stanley nearly crumbled during the preceding financial crisis. Morgan Stanley has since hired some of that fallen bank’s advisers, bolstering its already enviable wealth management business, previously called Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Mr. Gorman, 64, will likely depart at the same age as did his predecessor, John Mack, who left at 65. Neither Mr. Gorman nor Morgan Stanley gave an exact date for his departure from the chief executive role. The Morgan Stanley chief, referencing the drama around the show’s departed patriarch, said he had “no plans to go out like Logan Roy.”

☆ Silicon Valley Bank’s Ex-C.E.O. is ‘Truly Sorry’ but Deflects Blame
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Rob Copeland | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The collapse was precipitated by the bank’s decision to buy up government bonds in an era of low interest rates, particularly during the pandemic. Those bonds dropped in value when runaway inflation caused policymakers to quickly raise interest rates, making relatively low-yielding, older bonds less attractive to investors and blowing a hole in SVB’s books. “I worked at a place I truly loved,” he said, calling himself “truly sorry” for what happened. Mr. Becker said that at the time of SVB’s failure, he was working with regulators to shore up the bank. He blamed the media for raising questions about the firm’s financial disclosures and government officials for allowing inflation to spike to the point where rapid interest rate increases were necessary.

A cluster of regional banks scrambled on Thursday to convince the public of their financial soundness, even as their stock prices plunged and investors took bets on which might be the next to fall. PacWest and Western Alliance were in the eye of the storm, despite the companies’ protestations that their finances were solid. PacWest’s shares lost 50 percent of their value on Thursday and Western Alliance fell 38 percent. They are also much smaller than Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic, which each had about $200 billion in assets when they collapsed. PacWest, based in Los Angeles, has about $40 billion in assets, and Western Alliance, with headquarters in Phoenix, has $65 billion in assets.

☆ First Republic Lurches as It Struggles to Find a Savior
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Rob Copeland | Maureen Farrell | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

First Republic Bank is sliding dangerously into a financial maelstrom, one from which an exit appears increasingly difficult. Hardly a household name until a few weeks ago, First Republic is now a top concern for investors and bankers on Wall Street and officials in Washington. The likeliest outcome for the bank, people close to the situation said, would need to involve the federal government, alone or in some combination with a private investor. First Republic, based in San Francisco, has been widely seen as the most in-danger bank since Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed last month. Like Silicon Valley Bank, it catered to the well-off — a group of customers able to pull their money en masse — and amassed a hoard of loans and assets whose value has suffered in an era of rising interest rates.

☆ First Republic Bank Lost $102 Billion in Customer Deposits
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Maureen Farrell | Rob Copeland | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Over that same period, it borrowed $92 billion, mostly from the Federal Reserve and government-backed lending groups, essentially replacing its deposits with loans. That’s a perilous course for any bank, which generally do business by taking in relatively inexpensive customer deposits while lending money to home buyers and businesses at much higher interest rates. First Republic is still making some money; it reported a quarterly profit of $269 million, down one-third from a year earlier. From March 31 to April 21, the bank said that it lost only 1.7 percent of its deposits and that most of those withdrawals were related to tax payments by its clients. The slide began roughly six weeks ago, when the midsize lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank were taken over by federal regulators after customers pulled billions of dollars in deposits.

☆ Goldman Sachs Sheds Consumer Loans as Losses Mount
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Rob Copeland | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

How much will it cost for Goldman Sachs to extricate itself from a mistake? Goldman said it had sold off some of those down-market loans and conceded defeat on others, to the tune of nearly $500 million in losses. In October, the firm cleaved its wobbling consumer offerings, including credit card partnerships and interest-earning accounts, into a separate division. Three months later, the bank disclosed more than $3 billion in losses tied to that business over the previous years. Even for a lender as large as Goldman, the continuous bleeding is no small matter.

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