Jamie Dimon has an appetite for acquisitions. At an event for stock analysts in New York , the CEO of JP Morgan surprised everyone by saying that the world's most valuable bank is keeping a close eye on its competitors.
“I believe there may be opportunities, and that’s why we’re paying attention,” Dimon said at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference on Wednesday, May 27, according to a report in the Financial Times . “There may be, in the next two years, a chance to invest $10 billion or $20 billion in buying something.”
With a market capitalization of US$799.5 billion, JP Morgan is known for its conservative approach to large acquisitions. In recent years, the bank has prioritized smaller deals that are easily absorbed by its structure.
The exception was the purchase of First Republic in 2023. But the acquisition of the California-based financial institution, which collapsed during the regional banking crisis, was mediated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) – the $10.6 billion payment was made directly to the agency.
Another crisis opened up similar opportunities for JP Morgan. In 2008, during the subprime mortgage crisis, Dimon made his big deals with the acquisition of Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual amidst the collapse of major banks.
But the CEO of the world's largest bank was careful with his words to calibrate expectations. He framed M&A almost as a last resort, warning that executives who rely on mergers and acquisitions are often compensating for weak organic growth.
"You go into a lot of management meetings and the first thing they do when they're not doing well with organic growth is start talking about M&A," he said.
Dimon also established clear conditions for any acquisition. The target would need to fit into the bank's existing structure, align with its culture, and strengthen its core business lines—and not exist as a separate entity.
However, there is a limitation in American legislation that inhibits the appetite of the bank led by Dimon. Because it controls more than 10% of the country's deposits, JPMorgan cannot acquire another bank with the same characteristics.
This automatically shifts the focus to other fintech companies, asset managers, financial technology platforms, or wealth management firms.
Why did it change?
The regulatory backdrop is central to understanding JP Morgan's current situation. In March of this year, the Trump administration announced a "reset" of the capital framework in the US, substantially revising the original 2023 Basel III Endgame proposal, which would have raised capital requirements for large banks by almost 20%.
The regulatory rollback, driven by the US president's agenda, represents the most deregulated environment for Wall Street since the 2008 financial crisis.
For most large banks, the effect is less capital tied up, more freedom to invest, buy back shares, or make acquisitions.
In the case of JP Morgan, there are between US$40 billion and US$50 billion in excess capital, above what is required by regulators – it is estimated that the major American banks have a total of US$157 billion.
The largest US banks spent a record $33 billion on share buybacks in early 2026, a sign that excess capital is being returned to shareholders. Therefore, acquisitions and inorganic growth appear as a next step.
And Dimon is optimistic. JP Morgan's investment banking revenues are expected to grow by about 10% in the second quarter compared to the previous year, while trading revenues are expected to advance by at least 11%.
"There's a lot of excitement, folks. Mergers and acquisitions are having their best year in many years. The capital markets are going to boom this year," the CEO stated.
