JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon heads to Argentina before key test for Milei

Jamie Dimon will visit Argentina this week as its libertarian president struggles to stave off a run on the peso despite an unprecedented show of support from the US government.

The JPMorgan Chase & Co chief executive officer will be in Buenos Aires as part of a high-level meeting being held by the Wall Street giant, according to a person familiar with the matter. JPMorgan declined to comment.

President Javier Milei’s administration faces a crucial electoral test on Sunday, when Argentines vote in a congressional midterm election that could determine the fate of his free-market reforms. It’s unclear whether Dimon will meet with any government officials while visiting the country.

Dimon will speak to bank employees in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, local financial newspaper Cronista reported Friday without saying how it obtained the information.

The US bank is expanding its footprint in the crisis-prone South American nation with new office space, signing a long-term lease earlier this year to rent 20 floors of a two-building campus in the Argentine capital.

JPMorgan’s roots in Argentina date back to the 1880s, though its local subsidiary, which employs thousands today, opened its doors in the country in 1984, according to its website. Last year, the bank announced plans to add 1,500 more jobs in Argentina. 

Argentina’s peso is under extreme pressure in the run-up to the October 26 vote, with the currency down six percent so far in October and more than 40 percent so far this year – the worst in emerging markets. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has taken a whatever-it-takes approach to backstopping Milei, an ideological ally of President Donald Trump, ahead of the vote.

On Monday, Argentina’s Central Bank announced it had finalised a US$20-billion currency swap with the US Treasury, though details remain scarce. Bessent is also coordinating another facility worth the same amount that would be financed by banks and other private institutions.