UPDATE: JPMorgan Chase's Dimon: US Needs Strong Dollar
28 October 2009 - 5:52AM
Dow Jones News
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) Chairman and Chief Executive
James Dimon said that the U.S. needs a strong dollar.
A strong currency is necessary for a strong economy, Dimon said
during the luncheon at the annual meeting of the Securities
Industry and Financial Markets Association, or Sifma.
In an interview during the luncheon with television host Charlie
Rose, Dimon said regulators should focus on simplifying bank
regulation, rather than adding to it. He reiterated comments
previously made that in some cases, new regulation is needed, for
example to resolve big banks that cannot survive or to create a
clearinghouse process for derivatives, but regulation should become
more efficient rather than adding new regulatory agencies.
"We are in favor of consumer protection, but we believe we have
a chance to simplify regulation rather than add another agency," he
said.
Regulators and Congress also shouldn't put too many restrictions
on big banks that require extraordinary assistance, such as
Citigroup Inc. (C) and Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Dimon said. He
said he agreed with the government's pay czar Kenneth Feinberg that
"something should be done to regulate the pay" of the executives of
companies that got special assistance. But "we need Citi," for
example, he said. "It's not good to hamstring those companies."
Asked about the Federal Reserve's growing balance sheet, Dimon
said he is more worried about the government deficit than the size
of the Fed's balance sheet. Even at this point, the size of the
Fed's balance sheet is "a drop in the bucket" compared with the
overall assets in the country, he said.
In wide-ranging comments, Dimon also said demand by small
businesses for loans is down, but small businesses are having "a
tougher time getting credit." The Small Business Administration is
only a minor factor in small business lending, he said.
-By Matthias Rieker, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2471;
matthias.rieker@dowjones.com