JP Morgan builds financial cushion as Dimon warns of uncertainty

Tuesday 14 October 2025 12:36 pm

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JP Morgan has bulked up its financial cushion against loan losses as chair Jamie Dimon warns of heightened risk and global uncertainty.

The lender set aside an additional $810m (£610.2m) to cover potential losses from unpaid loans.

This defensive money consisted of $608m earmarked for consumer loans – such as credit cards and mortgages – and $205m for wholesale loans – loans to large businesses.

This increased its total pool for potential bad debts to $3.4bn in the third quarter of 2025, up from $2.84bn in the previous quarter.

It came as Dimon warned there was a “heightened degree of uncertainty” in the global economy.

America’s top banker listed “complex geopolitical conditions, tariffs and trade uncertainty, elevated asset prices and the risk of sticky inflation” as persisting issues.

“As always, we hope for the best, but these complex forces reinforce why we prepare the Firm for a wide range of scenarios,” Dimon added.

The US banking titan’s headline revenue came in ahead of market expectations at $47.12bn, with earnings per share hitting $5.07 – surpassing LSEG estimates of $4.84.

Profit rose 12 per cent to $14.39bn, compared with the year prior.

Dimon sounds alarm on AI bubble

Dimon last week joined the chorus of warnings over an the AI market bubble, which top economic names have feared could lead to a “sharp market correction”.

“AI is real and will pay off in total”, Dimon told the BBC, “but most people involved won’t do well. Some of the money being invested will probably be lost”.

It echoes sentiment from the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee, which warned a “crystallisation of such global risks [in the AI bubble] could have a material impact on the UK as an open economy”. 

The Bank’s governor Andrew Bailey warned on Monday that stock markets could suffer a “disorderly adjustment” due to spiralling debt levels and other vulnerabilities. 

Ahead of a seminal week in Washington DC where global financial leaders are set to discuss the future of multilateralism, Bailey said bullish markets and spiralling sovereign debt levels had left the wider system in peril.