JP Morgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon has cautioned against the shortage in supply of the government-backed Treasury bonds.
According to Dimon, the problem is set to grow in distinctly worse manner in the next economic crisis.
In a letter to the company’s shareholders this week, Dimon said, “In a crisis, everyone rushes into Treasuries to protect themselves. This will be even more true in the next crisis. But it seems to us that there is a greatly reduced supply of Treasuries to go around.”
The 59-year-old CEO underscored the day of last October when the Treasury bonds, which was normally stable, moved .04 percentage points, 40 basis points, in one fell swoop.
Dimon termed the move “unprecedented”, saying it is promoted by fears that the Federal Reserve Bank would slow its stimulating program for lending by buying large assets of the banks.
The issue which is underlying Dimon’s warning is his ever-ready concerns about the adverse impact of regulation on the banking sector. By underscoring the dramatic move in Treasuries last October, the CEO sought to highlight the impact of tougher capital requirements on demand for safe assets, such as Treasuries, in case of a downturn.
Dimon said, “In effect, there may be a shortage of all forms of good collateral.”
The banks will lead the charge to exhaust the Treasuries and other liquid assets in the condition of another downturn because of the stricter rules that defines about the quantity of liquid assets required by the banks to hold relative to potential outflows of cash.