Quo Vadis?

Jaime Dimon, as we all know is a very clever sod and a very good banker if prone to being a bit, ah, odd at times. So when Jaime speaks, one should listen and over the past couple of weeks Jaime has been speaking.

Jaime was one of the earliest and biggest supporters of The Leader during the latter's campaign and in the early days of the administration. But a couple of weeks ago , in a very public forum, Jaime expressed keen disappointment at The Leader's policies relating to the business community. The pundits are constantly rambling on about the loss of support from the base and the fact that the independents are moving to the right, all of which is important I am sure but Mr. Dimon's utterances are perhaps of more concern because in a very real sense, that's where the money is.

I am always amused when a businessman, starry-eyed rookies to the political game attach their presteige and personal wealth to a particular candidate and when they get screwed are shocked, SHOCKED that it happened to them. Had it been a straight-forward business transaction chances are that these guys never would have been duped but the power of public office mesmerises them like the fat kid in the third row who just got asked out by the prom queen. They know it can't be real but hey, one can dream. And now, that this Dodd-Frank creature looks as though it will pas, Jaime has realized that it wasn't real and he got screwed as more than anyone else on the street it's provisions cut right at the heart of the business of J.P. Morgan & Co. Aint that a bitch, Jaime.

What isn't quite so well-known is that while Jaime is a hell of a domestic banker, he hasn't much of a clue as to what happens once you hit the blue water off the coast lines. But, being a clever guy he realized that while all of the above was going on the real result--unless his boy loses next time around--is that the U S of A may not be the most warm and happy place for a financial services company for some time to come. So in a move whose true implications have not been understood except by a few alert observers, Jamie appointed one of his closest confidants to explore the overseas expansion of J.P. Morgan & Co. and did so in a very public manner. Remarkably, this institution, named after two of America's most internationally oriented institutions, Morgan Guaranty and Chase Manhattan Bank, has fallen far below the curve internationally when compaired to it's global competitors. Indeed, if one were to ask me (you have) the two greatest global franchises are Hong Kong Shanghai and---ready for it---Citibank. I think Jaime has figured it out and as well and being far behind those two he is also playing catch-up with a number of other global universal banks. What he is saying is the future for his business is not here; it is somewhere else, and the implications of that mind set are issues that should be considered by everyone interested in this industry and the future of this country...especially by the current management of the political universe.

So Quo Vadis, Jamie? A bit more along these lines anon.