Hong Kong (CNN Business)JPMorgan has made significant inroads in China over the last couple of years. Now the bank’s top boss is cracking jokes about whether his firm can outlast the country’s powerful political machine.
Speaking at an event in Boston on Tuesday, JPMorgan (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon said he “made a joke” during a recent trip to Hong Kong, referencing the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s 100th anniversary.”The Communist Party is celebrating its 100th year. So is JPMorgan,” he said, referring to the bank’s recent celebration of a century of operation in China. “And I’ll make a bet we last longer.”
“I can’t say that in China,” Dimon added with a chuckle. “They probably are listening anyway.”
The remarks are a rare display of candor from a senior business executive about the leadership of the world’s second largest economy, which has been cracking down on private enterprise over the past year. Read More
Jamie Dimon says worst of pandemic may soon be overJPMorgan did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.America’s biggest bank has enjoyed certain privileges in China in recent years. Earlier this year, the lender won approval from regulators to assume full ownership of its China securities venture, a sign that the country is further opening up to international businesses. In a statement at the time, Dimon called China “one of the largest opportunities in the world for many of our clients and for JPMorgan Chase.”Last week, Dimon also made headlines on his trip to Hong Kong, where he was granted a special government exemption to skip one of the world’s longest quarantines.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon allowed to skip quarantine in Hong KongHong Kong leader Carrie Lam said the executive received special permission in the interest of “Hong Kong’s economy,” citing the size of the bank’s business in the city, which is home to its regional headquarters.Dimon cited that trip on Tuesday, saying, “Obviously, I don’t have freedom of speech in China … like I have in Hong Kong. I don’t have it in Hong Kong anymore either.” He did not elaborate further.The American CEO was speaking at Boston College, where he gave a wide-ranging talk on the United States, China and other topics.At one point, Dimon compared the political and economic approaches in both countries, saying that in the United States, “we have the gifts of our founding fathers: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise, freedom of human capital, immigration.”Jamie Dimon bashes bitcoin again, calling it 'worthless'”If you opened up the doors of America, a billion people would come here. If you open the doors to China, how many people do you think will go there?” he said.”[An] autocratic … economy doesn’t work particularly well as a country gets much more sophisticated. And I’m not saying this to be angry to China. I think they have done a better job managing that country than we would have done at managing that country. They are very smart.”Dimon also dismissed criticism that JPMorgan “shouldn’t do business in China” because of opposition to some of its policies.
“We’re in Russia. We’re in Pakistan. We’re in Egypt. You know? And we’re there for the people of the country. We’ve been very consistent, we hope to be there for a long time,” he said.”JPMorgan can’t go to a country, and go in and out every time we like or don’t like something the government’s doing. Hell, I’d leave America, wouldn’t I?”
Source: edition.cnn.com
