Bank bosses expect US policy uncertainty to persist under Trump, but stay bullish on economy (updated)

KeyCorp

11/02/2025 20:46

(Adds details, quote in paragraph 9-10)

        * 
      Goldman Sachs CEO sees growth-oriented agenda but policy
uncertainty
    

        * 
      JPMorgan COO reports client optimism with cautious
investment
approach
    

        * 
      Bank executives cite policy shifts as source of volatility
    

  
    By Saeed Azhar, Nupur Anand, Tatiana Bautzer
       NEW YORK, Feb 11 (Reuters) - U.S. bank executives said
on Tuesday they expected policy uncertainty to linger as
President Donald Trump's second administration takes shape, but
remained optimistic on the economic outlook.
Trump introduced a raft of executive orders, tariffs and
personnel changes since he took office last month. In the
banking industry, he accused the largest U.S. lenders of
shutting down accounts of conservative customers, and dismantled
a consumer financial watchdog over the weekend.
    More broadly, the administration is going to run a more
"growth-oriented agenda," but the ultimate direction of its
policies is more complicated, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon
told a Miami conference on Tuesday. 
    "The regulatory environment should be a constructive
tailwind, but the broad policy landscape is still uncertain," he
said. "There's a lot of policy that is shifting, and until we
have more certainty on that policy, that's going to create a
little bit of volatility," he said, citing immigration, tax,
energy, trade and fiscal policy.
    Markets will likely have "stops and starts" that are
beneficial for Goldman's trading business, he said. Monday's
trading was relatively normal after the two previous weeks
started with "exciting and interesting" activity as the
administration announced a flurry of executive orders and
sanctions. 
    Wells Fargo's finance chief Mike Santomassimo told the same
conference that clients are optimistic about the economic
outlook, and considering mergers and other activities.
    "There's certainly this optimism that the administration is
going to be much more pro-growth, pro-business, remove a lot of
the obstacles that may get in the way of growing the economy,"
he said. 
    "There's still some uncertainty in terms of where a lot of
the policy may go," that is causing clients to be cautious about
striking deals, but "we still expect to see that momentum,"
Santomassimo said. 
    JPMorgan Chase's  JPM.N  also expects market activity to
pick up but said some companies are staying on the sidelines and
awaiting more clarity on economic policies. 
  
     "What we hear from clients is optimism, but a bit of a
wait-and-see approach around committing to significant
investments," Chief Operating Officer 
    Jennifer Piepszak
     said on Tuesday.
  
Keycorp CEO Chris Gorman said clients are upbeat despite the
uncertainty created by new import tariffs. He cited a poll among
the bank's clients that showed 62% expect to work on strategic
M&A over the next year.

(Reporting by Saeed Azhar, Nupur Anand and Tatiana Bautzer in
New York, Niket Nishant and Manya Saini in Bengaluru; editing by
Lananh Nguyen, Alexandra Hudson and Nick Zieminski)
((mailto:Lananh.Nguyen@thomsonreuters.com; +1 (646) 696 4829;))