JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon blasts draft capital rules

By Nupur Anand

NEW YORK (Reuters) -JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon blasted stricter capital rules proposed by U.S. regulators, telling investors on Monday that they could prompt lenders to pull back and stymie economic growth.

“I wouldn’t be a big buyer of a bank,” Dimon said at a conference in New York, drawing laughter from the audience. “I’d be no better than equal weight.”

JPMorgan bought First Republic earlier this year in a government-backed deal.

The chief of the largest bank in the U.S. questioned what the regulators were trying to accomplish with the rules, adding that he would appreciate more transparency from regulators in an attempt to understand the rationale.

“All I want is fairness, transparency, openness,” Dimon said.

Dimon said he believes that the Chinese market is no longer as lucrative as it was. He also said that his takeaway from a trip he made to China in May for the first time in four years was “highly cautious.”

“In terms of our own business, the risk-reward (from China), which was very good, has now become okay. The risk is bad,” he said adding that the bank is cautious about managing its risk.

China’s economy grew at a frail pace in the second quarter with gross domestic product expanding by just 0.8% from the previous quarter.

Dimon has earlier warned about uncertainty in the Chinese economy hurting investor confidence and also suggested that the U.S. and China need “real engagement” on security and trade issues.