Jamie Dimon: 'Huge Negative' for U.K. as Theresa May Bid Risks Hard Brexit

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said Theresa May’s request to the European Union for a three-month extension of the Brexit deadline won’t remove uncertainty associated with the impasse and raises the odds of a messy exit.

“There’s a growing risk that in 10 days you have what we would call a hard Brexit,” Dimon, who’s also chairman of Business Roundtable, said on a call with reporters Wednesday after announcing that U.S. executives are less optimistic amid greater uncertainty about global economic growth.

“If you do have one, it’s a huge negative to the U.K., not that big a negative to Europe, and far less negative to the United States.”

Dimon said last week that the U.K. is unprepared for a no-deal Brexit and that he saw a 10 percent risk of such an outcome. The EU is playing hardball with May, saying it might not give her a final answer on the three-month extension until next week, perhaps even the day before Britain is due to leave. Dimon said in January a hard Brexit was unlikely but would be a “disaster.”

“It just adds to the straws on the camel’s back,” Dimon said Wednesday when asked how much Britain’s potential exit is weighing on expectations. “Brexit is obviously a negative. It’s been a negative for a while. Its uncertainty has not been removed.”