Jamie Dimon's Defense Against Breaking Up JPMorgan Chase

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

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

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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

Jamie Dimon continued, “I ask the question: Did we build really good franchises over the last five or 10 years? Every one is world-class 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.”