Speaking at a JPMorgan Chase health-care conference in San Francisco on Monday, Marketwatch reported, chief executive Jamie Dimon said, “Commercial real estate is a train wreck, but it’s already happened.”

The declining value of properties backing nearly $3.5 trillion in outstanding commercial real estate loans is a problem, Dimon said. But refinancing activity, he added, has been shored up by investors drawn to lower prices, and transactions often take on the shape of recapitalization, in which the lenders become the equity holders.

Those types of transaction have less of an economic impact, Dimon noted. For example, he said, just because the owners of an office building change, it’s not a foregone conclusion that layoffs will follow.

JPMorgan, one of the largest U.S. commercial and investment banks, has been at the hub of the debate regarding financial reform since the financial crisis began in 2008.

And though Dimon acknowledged “reasonable concerns” about compensation at financial institutions, he also expressed frustration with recent criticism of the banking industry and JPMorgan employees.

“I’m getting tired of the constant vilification of these people,” he said.

“Some people walked away with a lot of money right before their firms collapsed,” Dimon said. “That ticks me off, too.”

Dimon contends that JPMorgan’s clients want the company to do things like extend credit and underwrite debt sales while cutting prices, which is why it offers commercial and investment banking services.

To read more, click here