Jamie Dimon calls October 15 Gyration an ‘Unprecedented Move’

Jamie Dimon, head of JPMorgan Chase & Co., said that previous year's volatility in US Treasuries has come up as a 'warning shot' to the investors. He also said that the next financial crisis could get worse due to the shortage of the securities.

In a letter to shareholders, Dimon, the New York-based bank's chairman and chief executive officer, on Wednesday, said that the October 15 gyration, when the Treasury yields showed a fluctuation of almost 0.4 percentage point, was an 'unprecedented move' that would have serious consequences in a stressed environment. Treasuries should have the most stable securities.

Dimon cited the incident during a debate about whether bank regulations that were implemented after the 2008 financial crisis exacerbated price declines by limiting the ability of Wall Street banks to make markets.

He said that it's just a matter of time until some political, economic or market event triggers another financial crisis.

Dimon wrote that the move taken by the Treasuries was an event that is supposed to happen only once in every 3 billion years or so. He added that the crisis in the future could be worsened due to a greatly reduced supply of Treasuries to go around.

In addition to it, Dimon wrote that the new regulation have resulted in diminished liquidity across bond markets, due to which higher volatility can be seen during a crisis.

He wrote that it is not because of one rule that the Inventories are lower, but because of the multiple new rules that have affected market-making, including far higher capital and liquidity requirements and the pending implementation of the Volcker Rule.

Furthermore, he wrote that during the next crisis, banks' ability to buffer clients and consumers may be reduced, the industry is very strong now because of higher capital requirements.