Dimon: JPMorgan is under ‘assault’ from regulators

Jamie Dimon is whining again.

The bank chieftain said JPMorgan Chase is “under assault” from regulators after legal costs dragged down the firm’s latest quarterly results.

The biggest US bank by assets reported weaker-than-expected profit and revenue in the fourth quarter, sending the shares down 3.5 percent to $56.72 in morning trading on Wednesday.

Profit was hit by nearly $1 billion in after-tax legal expenses, mostly tied to its foreign exchange business, Chief Financial Officer Marianne Lake said during a call to discuss results.

The bank is under investigation for its role in an international rate-rigging scandal and has been dogged by a host of legal and regulatory woes sparked by the financial meltdown in 2008.

“Banks are under assault,” Dimon told reporters on the call. “We have five or six regulators coming at us on every issue.”

In November 2013, the bank settled with the Justice Department for $13 billion over its role in the subprime mortgage crisis.

He also brushed aside suggestions that the bank should be broken up. Analysts at Goldman Sachs have said JPMorgan should be carved up into as many as four companies to create more value for shareholders and reduce the regulatory cash buffer the bank has to hold.

Dimon rejected the idea on Wednesday, saying the bank’s profits since the crisis are a “sign of stability.”

“In any future crisis, we’re going to do fine,” he said.

Net income for the last quarter was $4.93 billion, or $1.19 a share, down from $5.28 billion, or $1.30 per share during the same period last year.

Bank officials have been warning this year that revenue could drop as much as 19 percent due to slow trading brought on by the drop in price of oil and other commodities and low interest rates.

“2014 is a transition year in a lot of ways,” CFO Lake said last month.

The bank’s market share across most trading metrics — from global debt to stocks — fell this year. The exception was in mergers and acquisitions and loan syndication.

Dimon also dismissed concerns about volatility in oil, which has declined to less than $50 a barrel.

“Commodities have moved like this my whole life,” he said.