DAVOS, Switzerland – JPMorgan Chase & Co bankers worked through the night in a “war room” to assess the impact of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration-day executive orders, as global markets braced for volatility after his return to the White House.
Trump revoked nearly 80 executive actions by former Democratic President Joe Biden, including orders for an immediate freeze on new federal regulations and government hiring. JPMorgan’s head of asset and wealth management, Mary Callahan Erdoes, said, “The last 24 hours are showing there’s going to be a lot of changes we all have to digest.”
Global trade flows will suffer from “interesting ructions” as the new Trump administration settles in, according to Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters. He warned that China, with its massive export surplus, will be a key player in the disruption.
Big, globally-focused banks will benefit from the disruption, while locally-focused banks may struggle, according to Winters. Financial institutions also face a slew of fresh regulations that they say impede their ability to fuel global growth.
Bank of New York CEO Robin Vince criticized the stifling effect of regulations, saying, “Look, regulation has been stifling. It’s really against the whole purpose that governments around the world have in trying to enable growth for their countries.”
The Bank of England has delayed tougher bank capital rules, prompting the European Union to do the same, to get clarity on what the US will do under Trump. Santander executive chair Ana Botin called for Europe to pause on new regulation and supervision reforms, saying, “We just need to do more and faster, and for once be ahead of the United States.”