JPMorgan CEO says ‘banks are under assault’

JPMorgan Chase posted disappointing fourth quarter earnings today, missing analyst expectations. During a call with reporters, CEO Jamie Dimon declared that “banks are under assault,” and that it now has five or six regulators coming after it on different issues, compared to one or two previously.

Marcus Stanley, policy director of Americans for Financial Reform, says Dimon has it backward – regulators and Congress are under assault from the financial lobby due to ongoing efforts to repeal various elements of the Dodd-Frank financial reforms passed in 2010.

Who’s right?

Both sides, says John Coffee, a Columbia Law School professor. In 2014, many regulators took a stricter attitude toward banks, including state-level overseers. And while the financial crisis made it clear we need better bank oversight, Aaron Klein of the Bipartisan Policy Center says he thinks that consolidating regulators would save money for both banks and taxpayers.