Jamie Dimon's Defense Against Breaking Up JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS recently released a report in which the analysts argued that JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM would be worth a lot more if broken up than it is worth today. Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan president and CEO, was seen on CNBC Wednesday, January 21 arguing why it doesn’t make sense to break up his company.

“Look I don’t think Lloyd [Blankfein] was involved in the report, I think analysts are pretty independent and I think he’s quite a good analyst,” Dimon said.

“ Here is the thing you got to keep in mind: We have to hold more capital.”

The Issue Of Capital

“That’s a good question to raise: Is it too much capital you can earn a fair return on? The fact is that it’s not,” he stated, “We are going to raise our capital levels pretty easily, we can earn a good return for shareholders and we will maintain these four fabulous franchises.”

The Issue Of Franchises

He continued, “I ask the question: Did we build really good franchises over the last five or ten years? Every one is worldclass in its business, every single one. The company itself was a port of safety in the storm; we didn’t jeopardize the American economy or global economy.”

JPMorgan, 'Port Of Safety'?

Dimon emphasized on his “port of safety” argument, saying, “So, the company has done really well. Our margins are good. Our returns are good. We had a record year. I hope, we have a record year next year.”

“The other thing to keep in mind about PEs – PEs are temporary and a lot of my directors have mentioned to me that some of their companies were under some pressure to break up and thank god they didn’t, because we will be a port in the next storm and you want me to be a port.”