(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co's top boss Jamie Dimon on Monday said he sees a "bad recession" in 2020, and that the largest U.S. bank could suspend its dividend if the coronavirus crisis deepens. Dimon, widely regarded as the face of the U.S. banking sector, is the most prominent voice on Wall Street so far to project that the economic cost of the coronavirus will not evaporate quickly, and said the bank's earnings will be down "meaningfully in 2020." JPMorgan could look at suspending dividends if the gross domestic product (GDP) were to fall by as much as 35% in the second quarter and the unemployment rate were to rise further to 14% in the fourth quarter of the year, the chief executive officer wrote in his annual letter to shareholders. Questions are mounting about whether big U.S. banks will have to cut dividends later this year as the coronavirus crisis puts a record portion of Americans out of work, making it difficult for borrowers to pay back loans.

Source: International New York Times April 06, 2020 11:20 UTC