June 2 (Reuters) – Jamie Dimon, the chief govt of U.S. financial institution JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), is visiting Taiwan on Friday, a supply with direct data of the matter mentioned, his first journey to the island in a virtually a decade, after concluding a go to to China this week.
Dimon’s journey to Taipei, the place JPMorgan has had a banking presence since 1970, comes amid heightened pressure over the democratically-governed island, which Beijing claims as its personal territory. Taiwan strongly rejects China’s sovereignty claims.
However China, which bristles at visits to Taiwan by international authorities officers, tends to disregard journeys by enterprise executives, who normally preserve away from politics.
“The Chinese language are far more involved about U.S. authorities contacts with Taiwan than they’re with personal companies and banks doing enterprise,” mentioned Andrew Collier, managing director at Orient Capital Analysis in Hong Kong.
“So long as executives avoid political statements, they need to be capable to move the Chinese language litmus exams.”
Dimon will meet financial institution workers and shoppers in Taiwan on his go to, mentioned the supply, who sought anonymity because the plans weren’t public, whereas including that no conferences have been deliberate with Taiwan officers.
A JPMorgan spokesperson declined to remark.
Bloomberg first reported the event.
“This isn’t a query of international affairs,” a spokesperson for China’s international ministry advised media on Friday in response to information of the go to. “China takes a constant and clear stance on Taiwan points.”
As a part of his Asia tour, Dimon may also go to South Korea after the Taiwan journey, mentioned the supply.
JPMorgan has greater than 500 workers in Taiwan, the place it gives company and funding banking and business banking companies, in addition to managing public pension belongings.
The financial institution is the seventh-largest M&A adviser, eighth-largest fairness capital markets, and sixth-largest debt capital markets deal guide runner in Taiwan by complete deal worth within the final 5 years, Refinitive knowledge exhibits.
Journeys to Taiwan by Wall Avenue officers are uncommon as they’ve a restricted enterprise presence there, in comparison with the frequent visits by U.S. tech executives because the island is a key producer of semiconductors.
Nvidia Corp’s (NVDA.O) Chief Govt Jensen Huang visited this week for a commerce present, as did Intel Corp’s (INTC.O) Chief Govt Pat Gelsinger final month.
Dimon’s final publicly-known go to to Taipei was in 2014, when he met then-president Ma Ying-jeou. However there was no plan for President Tsai Ing-wen to fulfill Dimon, her workplace mentioned on Friday.
An official of the island’s Monetary Supervisory Fee mentioned there have been no plans for a gathering with Dimon.
Dimon, who has boosted the financial institution’s presence in China in recent times, met this week with Shanghai’s Communist Celebration secretary Chen Jining, who expects the financial institution to advertise funding within the business hub.
Dimon favours East-West “derisking” somewhat than decoupling, he advised the three-day JPMorgan World China Summit occasion within the metropolis on Wednesday. America and China want “actual engagement” on safety and commerce points, he added.
Reporting by Selena Li and Kane Wu in Hong Kong, Scott Murdoch in Sydney, Ben Blanchard and Emily Chan in Taipei, Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Enhancing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Clarence Fernandez
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