JPMorgan Chase has withdrawn almost $350bn in cash from its account at the Federal Reserve since 2023 and ploughed much of it into US government debt, as the bank tries to defend itself against rate cuts that threaten to erode its profits.
JPMorgan, which has more than $4tn in assets, slashed its balance at the Fed from $409bn at the end of 2023 to just $63bn in the third quarter of this year, according to data compiled by industry data tracker BankRegData.
The bank increased its holdings of US Treasuries over the same period from $231bn to $450bn, a move that allowed it to lock in higher yields in anticipation of the central bank cutting interest rates.