Chase CEO Dimon: No more cuts in Seattle operations

JPMorgan Chase doesn't plan further cutbacks in the Seattle operations it acquired when it bought failed thrift Washington Mutual last September, CEO Jamie Dimon said Wednesday. And the New York financial giant hopes to add "a couple hundred" local business-banking jobs once an economic recovery takes hold.

In a round-table interview with local reporters, Dimon also said he hoped to sell WaMu Center, the thrift's former headquarters on Second Avenue downtown, "as soon as possible," but wouldn't comment on reports the 42-story building has been shopped to Tacoma-based Russell Investments.

Dimon also spoke to the Seattle Downtown Rotary club on the state of the U.S. banking industry. It was his first visit to Seattle since December, when he announced massive layoffs in WaMu's Seattle-based work force.

When federal regulators seized WaMu and sold most of its assets to JPMorgan Chase for $1.9 billion, the Seattle company employed about 4,200 people in its downtown headquarters. By the end of this year, only 800 or so will still have jobs with Chase.

One of Chase's goals for its local operations is to expand lending to small and mid-sized businesses, Dimon said. WaMu, which as a thrift kept most of its lending tied to real estate, never developed much business banking.

Chase plans to serve small businesses mainly through the extensive branch network built by WaMu, Dimon said, while bankers serving mid-sized and larger businesses will work out of "a different space" — likely the former WaMu headquarters, now Chase's Northwest regional office.

Dimon acknowledged that some former WaMu customers are unhappy with Chase's way of doing business. Customers have complained about, among other things, deposits not being made available quickly, longer holds on checks, account mix-ups and confusion when mortgage borrowers have tried to get their loans modified.

"Conversions are hard, and we know some customers aren't happy," Dimon said. "We always try to listen to what they have to say and try to accommodate them."

But, he said, so far Chase has held onto nearly all the retail banking customers it acquired from WaMu.

JPMorgan Chase will maintain its level of charitable giving in Washington state, though the mix will change, Dimon said.

Chase's decision to drop sponsorship of the Independence Day fireworks show at Lake Union sparked concerns the bank was scaling back from WaMu's level of corporate philanthropy.

WaMu gave about $2.6 million in the state in 2008 and had sponsored the fireworks show since 2002. After Chase acquired WaMu, it said it would continue WaMu's level of corporate giving this year and agreed to pick up most of the $500,000 cost for this month's fireworks show.

But Chase's charitable giving typically takes the form of grants to nonprofits rather than sponsorships, said Dimon and Phyllis Campbell, Chase's head of Northwest operations.

"Sponsorships really aren't in the sweet spot for us," Campbell said.

Going forward, Dimon said Chase's philanthropy in Washington "will continue probably around that ($2.6 million) level" but added that "obviously there are going to be changes — some things are going to go down, some will go up."

Dimon was scornfully dismissive of several lawsuits brought by WaMu shareholders claiming JPMorgan Chase paid far too little for the assets it got and allege it secretly worked to undermine WaMu. He called such claims "pathetically ridiculous statements."

He noted that his company was the only bidder for WaMu's assets, saying, "We could have paid a dollar and still won." And he pointed out that more than $30 billion in estimated future loan losses are embedded in the mortgage portfolio it acquired from WaMu.

"If you want to have conspiracy theories, that won't fly," he said. "There are tons of lawsuits, and we're going to defeat them all."

Drew DeSilver: 206-464-3145 or ddesilver@seattletimes.com