Jamie Dimon on the Goldilocks economy

It is possible that we will have a Goldilocks moment - fast and sustained growth, inflation that moves up gently (but not too much), and interest rates that rise (but not too much).

~ Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase CEO, 2020 annual letter

Brian Moynihan: "We have nothing to fear about a recession" (2019)

We have nothing to fear about a recession right now except for the fear of recession.

~ Brian Moynihan, CEO, Bank of America, Bloomberg Television interview, August 16, 2019

Jamie Dimon on the business expansion: "no law that it has to stop" (2019)

Do you have to have a recession?... The consumer's in good shape, the balance sheet's in good shape, people are going back to the workforce, companies have plenty of capital... business confidence and consumer confidence are both high... So it could easily go on for years.  There's no law that says it has to stop.

~ Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase Q1 conference call, April 12, 2019

Napolean Bonaparte on bankers

When a government is dependent upon bankers for money, they and not the leaders of the government control the situation, since the hand that gives is above the hand that takes. Money has no motherland; financiers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain.

~ Napolean Bonaparte

Jamie Dimon speech at University of Washington

It’s okay for us at times to blame and be dissatisfied with others and hold them responsible, but it’s not okay to oversimplify and paint everyone with the same brush. It should not be acceptable to denigrate entire groups, not all companies, not all CEOs, not all politicians, not all media, not all students.

Jamie Dimon, CEO, JP Morgan Chase, Bloomberg, November 2, 2011

US Bancorp CEO Richard Davis on bank practices

Everybody’s breaking the rules, blah blah blah, Get over it.

Richard Davis, CEO US Bancorp, Minneapolis News, November 2, 2011

Harry Markopolis on foreign exchange fraud

Banks that are doing it, it's 25-33% of their bottom line net income per year, so it's like being addicted to heroin, they can't afford to pull the needle out because their share prices will collapse. It's also a case of false financial statement reporting—when a quarter to a third of your net income is fraud-based, and you're not telling shareholders that, then you have a Sarbanes-Oxley issue.

"Banks overcharging on foreign exchange trades", Zerohedge, February 3, 2011

BofA's Ken Lewis named 2008 Banker of the Year

Despite one of the worst financial crises since the Great Depression, 22 bank failures and a $700 billion government bailout, the American Banker -- a daily chronicle of the industry -- was expected to proceed with its annual ritual at a black-tie celebration on Thursday night in New York.

The publication named Bank of America Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis as Banker of the Year, for the second time in six years. If anyone deserved the award, it is Mr. Lewis. Bank of America, of Charlotte, N.C., is one of the year's survivors, and Mr. Lewis rescued two big firms -- California mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. and New York securities firm Merrill Lynch & Co. -- from collapse.

Still, some shareholders and even banking executives are asking, why name a laureate at all this year?

A new Gallup poll shows only 23% of the public views bankers positively, a record low.

The financial crisis hasn't been kind to some past honorees. Kerry Killinger, the 2001 winner, was ousted as CEO of Seattle-based Washington Mutual Inc. in September over disastrous bets on risky mortgages. The 2005 winner, Ken Thompson, was forced out as CEO of Charlotte-based Wachovia Corp. in June. In 2006, American Banker gave a Lifetime Achievement award to Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo, who gambled on subprime loans and saw his company disintegrating before selling out to Bank of America. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. acquired WaMu in September, and Wells Fargo & Co. is buying Wachovia.

~ The Wall Street Journal, "Believe It or Not, There's a Banker of the Year," December 5, 2008, by Dan Fitzpatrick

John Maynard Keynes on bankers

A sound banker, alas, is not one who foresees danger and avoids it, but one who, when he's ruined, is ruined in a conventional and orthodox way along with his fellows, so that no one can really blame him.

~ John Maynard Keynes, 1931

American Bankers Association
1875-1950

Banker Rudolph Peterson on perpetual prosperity (1966)

Businessmen are concerned about the future, but they are also remarkably confident. Among the most confident is Banker Peterson, who believes that with intelligent and courageous policy actions, men can make prosperity perpetual, create great societies at home and grand designs abroad. In the next five years, he observes, the number of U.S. families will grow by 5,000,000, or 10%, providing a tremendous expansive force and placing many new demands upon the nation's banks and businesses. "The next big thrust in the economy," he says, "will come from urban development — new concepts of housing, transportation, pollution control. All these things are sitting on the shelf, ready to go, and when the war in Viet Nam ends, domestic development will move fast." America's economy need never run down, because, says Rudy Peterson, "there are so many things that need to be done."

~ Time, "The Year of Tight Money and Where It Will Lead," December 30, 1966

(Rudolph Peterson is president of California's Bank of America.)

Ken Lewis on housing slump

The drag stops in the next few months. It's just about to be over. We're seeing the worst of it.

We do not see a recession. Because that drag stops, you'll see the economy begin to pick up in the third and fourth quarters.

~ Ken Lewis, CEO, Bank of America, "Lewis Says Housing Slump Just About Over," Bloomberg, June 20, 2007

Josef Ackermann on advice from Greenspan (2007)

[Alan Greenspan's] position as one of the architects of the modern financial system gives him a unique perspective from which to help our clients make critical risk management decisions.

~ Josef Ackermann, Deutsche Bank Chief Executive, "Former Fed Chief Greenspan to Advise Deutsche Bank," Reuters, August 13, 2007

Wachovia's Ken Thompson on their 4 large acquisitions

I’d say look at our track record. We’ve done four large mergers since I’ve been CEO and they’ve all been successful.

~ Ken Thompson, CEO, Wachovia, as appeared on CNBC (interview with Maria Bartiromo), June 28, 2007

BofA's Lewis on private equity deals

You'll have a percentage of these deals going bad because they're just levered too much… I think it's several years off.

~ Kenneth Lewis, CEO, Bank of America, as interviewed on Bloomberg.com, June 20, 2007