Dick Bove, a famous bank analyst at Rafferty Capital, thinks that breaking up the big banks would be bad for the United States, and it would be very, very good for China. The analyst’s remarks echo recent comments made by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) CEO James Dimon.
Bove, who was speaking on the CNBC program “Squawk Box,” said that breaking the big four banks in the United States into smaller parts would allow Chinese banks to take over the global financial system. The idea of China controlling the world’s finances is clearly not in the strategic interest of the United States.
In a February interview on Fox Business, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) CEO James Dimon said that breaking up the big four banks in the United States would allow China to dominate world finance. The idea is one sure to permeate the narratives of those who want to keep the nation’s large banks intact in the face of mounting pressure from regulators. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) has been instrumental in blocking attempts to break up the banks.
The Dodd-Frank set of financial reform laws had mechanisms that would put an end to the reign of banks that could be deemed too big to fail. These provisions, like many contained in the law, have not been implemented. A growing number of analysts and executives are speaking out against the possibility of breaking up the world’s biggest banks.
China is the biggest rival to the geopolitical preeminence of the United States. Bove said that the Chinese “want to destroy the position of the United States in the global financial system.” If the big banks were to be broken up, according to Bove, they could have their wish.
The analyst points to the size of the banks in China compared to those in the United States, even without breaking the big banks into their parts. The People’s Bank of China, for example, has $3.5 trillion in assets, said Bove, “more than any bank in the United States and certainly way more than the United States Federal Reserve.”
The prospect of China holding most of the cards in the global financial system might just be distasteful enough for politicians to block the popular prospect of breaking up the big banks. Whether or not the narrative bears the weight of inspection remains to be seen.
