Goldman Sachs Conference: JPMorgan, Bank Of America, Amex Upbeat Heading Into New Year

The top executives at JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America said trading activity during the current fourth quarter is trending higher and sounded a positive note heading into the new year.

Speaking at the Goldman Sachs financial services conference, Seeking Alpha reported JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said trading activity in the fourth quarter is up 15 percent from the fourth quarter of last year. What’s more, he said that, under a Trump presidency, he is “begging” for corporate tax reform to get done, arguing it will result in better wages and stop a capital fight.

Dimon also said it is “completely rational” to take a second look at Dodd-Frank and changes to the Volcker rule, which he said would be good for markets because there would be more liquidity. Meanwhile, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said it is seeing trading revenue up around 15 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the year-earlier fourth quarter. The CEO said the bank is still in the process of cost cutting, and it plans to raise the pay of its employees who are paid the least to $15 an hour. As for the investor optimism in the wake of Trump’s surprising election victory, Moynihan, according to Seeking Alpha, wasn’t surprised, noting he’s hoping for increased capital payouts and regulation that isn’t so stringent.

Financial firms have long rallied against the Dodd-Frank Act, and now, with Trump becoming the 45th president of the U.S., they may have an ally in their corner. In November, Reuters reported Trump appears to be embracing a plan put forth this past summer by Jeb Hensarling, the Republican chair of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, that aims to weaken the Dodd-Frank law. According to the report, language posted on the Trump transition website having to do with financial services sounds similar to the Hensarling bill, dubbed the CHOICE Act. On the Trump transition site, Dodd-Frank is criticized as being a “sprawling and complex piece of legislation that has unleashed hundreds of new rules and several new bureaucratic agencies,” reported Reuters. The act calls for Dodd-Frank to be dismantled and promises to replace it with new polices that supposedly encourage growth in the economy and new jobs. The CHOICE Act, which got approved by Hensarling’s committee in September, also calls for Dodd-Frank to be replaced.

Meanwhile, American Express Chief Executive Kenneth Chenault wasn’t as upbeat as JPMorgan and Bank of America during his presentation at the Goldman Sachs confab, but he did say international business is up 13 percent in Mexico, 14 percent in the U.K., 27 percent in China and 14 percent in Japan, according to Seeking Alpha. The credit card issuer said it’s making progress in the digital market, with digitally acquired cards increasing 20 percent year over year. The executive credited the growth to millennials, which, according to Seeking Alpha, account for 40 percent of digital card acquisitions. The executive noted new cardmembers are, on average, five years younger than in 2010. As for cardmember acquisition, Chenault said the figure is moving lower in the fourth quarter coming off a less-than-stellar third quarter in which Amex signed on 1.7 million new members, lower than the 2.3 million that signed up in the year-earlier third quarter.