Jamie Dimon Is Begging for Deals. Why Is That?

Jamie Dimon appears restless. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s chief executive officer is imploring investment bankers — those most tireless of salespeople — to ring him up and pitch M&A ideas. It’s the clearest indication yet that the biggest U.S. bank would prefer not to sit on its excess capital. That’s a nice problem to have, but one the lender is struggling to solve. The worry is that this pushes it toward a transaction at any cost.

Barred by regulators from buying back stock because of the pandemic and from acquiring a deposit-taking institution in the U.S. because of its size, the Wall Street giant could look to expand in commercial banking outside its domestic market.