Search Results for: Jamie Dimon

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: April 24, 2023 Give First Republic Bank an A+ for arrogance and an F for its ability to hold on to its customers’ deposits, despite all that incessant talk about how loyal they are. The A+ for arrogance comes from the bank’s refusal to take even one question from reporters or bank analysts on today’s first quarter earnings call. The call began at 4:30 p.m. ET and lasted approximately 12 minutes. It was heavy on spin. For example, a big effort was made to dress up the amount of deposits the bank still had on hand at the end of the first quarter, which is necessary if anyone is to believe the narrative that it has “retained 97 percent of client relationships” over the quarter. (The relationships may, indeed, still be there in some fashion but deposits have flown the coop.) The hard numbers for … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: April 24, 2023 All of those pundits who have written over the past two weeks that the banking crisis is over, have failed to persuade the big credit ratings agency, Moody’s. Last Friday, Moody’s downgraded the credit ratings of 11 banks and put another five banks on negative watch – all in one day. And, for good measure, it downgraded the entire U.S. banking system from “Very Strong –” to “Strong +.” While not mentioning the Federal Reserve directly, the Moody’s downgrade of the U.S. banking system seemed to point directly at the Fed’s unrelenting interest rate hikes. Moody’s wrote: “Moody’s has lowered the macro profile of the US banking system to ‘Strong +’ from ‘Very Strong –.’ The change in funding conditions reflects rising asset liability management challenges at US banks. Specifically, the banking system faces rising funding and profitability pressures related to the … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: April 19, 2023 When JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo announced on March 16 that they were plunking $5 billion each of their corporate funds as uninsured deposits into the sinking First Republic Bank, they tied their corporate brand and their own bank’s image of safety and soundness to that of a teetering lender. Here’s what happened in short order thereafter: First Republic Bank’s stock closed on Thursday, March 16, the date of the announcement of the big infusion of money during market hours, at $34.27. On Friday, March 17, First Republic’s stock closed at $23.03. On Monday, March 20, the stock closed at $12.18. What the mega banks had hoped would be a vote of confidence in First Republic Bank was viewed by the composite wisdom of the markets as an act of desperation and the market savaged the stock price … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: April 17, 2023 On April 11, Wall Street On Parade ran this headline: Fed Report: Largest 25 U.S. Banks Have Shed $700 Billion in Deposits Over Past Year. Using deposit data directly from the Federal Reserve’s weekly H.8 report, we documented that contrary to the misleading reporting in the mainstream business press, it wasn’t the regional banks that were losing the bulk of deposits in the U.S., with the biggest banks the beneficiaries, it was actually the biggest banks that were dramatically shedding deposits. We explained as follows: “The reality is that the 25 largest domestically-chartered commercial banks in the U.S. have been bleeding deposits for most of the past 12 months, shedding more than $700 billion in deposits between April 13, 2022 and March 29, 2023. To put that in even sharper focus, all U.S. domestically-chartered commercial banks have lost a total of $970 billion during … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: April 13, 2023 Jamie Dimon, the Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, is desperately attempting to redirect the media’s focus to anything other than two federal lawsuits that name his bank as a knowing facilitator and cash conduit for Jeffrey Epstein’s child sex trafficking ring. One lawsuit has been filed by the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands where Epstein owned an island-compound and air-lifted young girls in and out. The other lawsuit has been filed by an alleged underage victim of Epstein’s, Jane Doe 1. Dimon’s high-powered p.r. machine has been churning out headlines on his role as “rescuer” of the teetering bank, First Republic, (never mind that there are few signs that the bank has actually been rescued). And one would think that Dimon has written a new Magna Carta for all the press attention going to his unremarkable annual letter to shareholders. … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: April 12, 2023 Four of the eleven big banks that announced on March 16 that they were going to dump a combined $30 billion of their own money as uninsured deposits into the plunging coffers of First Republic Bank were also the underwriters of $3.6 billion in preferred stock for First Republic Bank. Units of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo were underwriters of the majority of the preferred stock outstanding at First Republic Bank. UBS, which did not contribute to the $30 billion deposit infusion, was also one of the primary underwriters. UBS was otherwise occupied last month by having a gun put to its head by the Swiss government to “rescue” the tanking Credit Suisse. The Swiss government also denied shareholders on both sides of the deal the ability to vote on the matter. All of First Republic’s outstanding … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: April 10, 2023 Jamie Dimon, the Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, has cranked up his public relations machine since March 16 to promote the narrative that he came to the “rescue” of the plunging regional lender, First Republic Bank. The so-called “rescue” consisted of 11 banks, including JPMorgan Chase, dumping a total of $30 billion in “uninsured” deposits into First Republic. But one of the bank’s key problems was that it already had too many uninsured deposits. (This was like seeing a house on fire and throwing 11 expensive martinis at it.) According to First Republic’s regulatory filings, as of December 31, 2022, it had total deposits of $176.25 billion, of which $119.47 billion (or 68 percent) were uninsured. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) caps federal deposit insurance at $250,000 per depositor, per bank. But banks such as First Republic, that cater … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: April 5, 2023 Millions of Americans are beginning to ask themselves this question: Is the Federal Reserve (the “Fed”) a competent central bank or a terminally compromised regulator that simply does the bidding of Wall Street’s mega banks to the peril of average Americans and the U.S. economy? Millions of other Americans have already made up their minds on this point. These persistent doubts about an institution with an $8.8 trillion balance sheet – that is backstopped by the U.S. taxpayer – is very bad for confidence in the U.S. banking system, especially when the Fed pivots from one banking bailout to the next. (What was the size of the Fed’s balance sheet prior to its serial bailouts? On December 26, 2007, the Fed’s balance sheet stood at $929 billion. It has soared by 847 percent in just over 15 years of serial bailouts.) Let’s … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: April 3, 2023 ~ According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), there were 4,706 federally-insured banks and savings associations in the U.S. as of December 31, 2022. Of those, according to the quarterly report released last Friday from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), a little less than one-quarter found a reason to engage in derivative trading activities. As of December 31, 2022, just 1,139 FDIC-insured commercial banks and savings associations reported trading of derivatives in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to the OCC. Ostensibly, instead of running a derivatives casino, the other three-quarters of taxpayer-subsidized banks were doing what taxpayers want federally-insured banks to do: make business loans; provide affordable mortgage loans to homebuyers; provide checking accounts devoid of hacking, identity theft and predatory overdraft fees; and not blow up the bank by getting in bed with derivatives, crypto … Continue reading →

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: March 29, 2023 ~ Silvergate Capital, the parent of Silvergate Bank – which has lost 90 percent of its share price year-to-date and announced it is winding down and liquidating — is still running a website that is putting a rosy glow on the bank’s operations. For example, under the heading of “Banking for the future,” the Silvergate website shares this: “Silvergate Bank has served entrepreneurs in unique and niche industries for over 20 years. Recognizing digital currency’s potential during the sector’s infancy, we built strong relationships with pioneers who were turned away by traditional banks. This solidified our position as industry-leading partners and innovators which remains true today.” Wait. What? (What ever happened to the Federal Trade Commission’s Truth in Advertising Law?) Those so-called “strong relationships” with digital currency firms turned into highly-fickle hot money once markets learned that Silvergate had been doing highly … Continue reading →