Jamie Dimon, the chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, has blasted governments and regulators for slowing the global economic recovery.
Bad and uncoordinated policies have "made the recovery worse than it otherwise would have been", Mr Dimon wrote in his annual letter to shareholders. "You cannot prove this in real time, but when economists 20 years from now write a book on the recovery, it may well be entitled 'It could have been much better'."
New regulations, he said, have slowed bank lending at "precisely the wrong time".
JPMorgan weathered the financial crisis better than most of its rivals and Mr Dimon, known for his combativeness, has become something of a spokesman for Wall Street since. Although the 56 year-old insisted that he agreed with the intention of much of the regulation, the letter added that the "result of the financial reform has not been intelligent design". JPMorgan will spend about $3bn (£1.9bn) over the next few years to ensure that it is compliant with new regulations.
The 38-page letter, the longest missive yet from Mr Dimon to investors, came alongside the disclosure that he earned $23m in 2011, matching his compensation in 2010. The bank made record profits of $19bn last year.
The bank boss also used the letter to take a swipe at attacks on the role that banks play in the broader economy. "If it weren't for the capital investment, innovation and productivity of American business, we all still would be living in tents and hunting buffalo," Mr Dimon claimed....
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