By Nupur Anand

NEW YORK JPMorgan Chase President and Chief Operating Officer Daniel Pinto said he expects its Chase UK consumer bank to break even in the next 12 to 18 months.

"We have acquired around two million customers" in the United Kingdom, Pinto told a Financial Times conference on Tuesday. "A big percentage of those are fairly actively engaged, and we have nearly $20 billion in terms of deposits."

The largest U.S. lender opened the digital bank in the UK in 2021, its first foray into international retail business. Chase UK is doing better than expected, Pinto said, and the company plans to grow in other global consumer markets over time.

Brazilian digital bank C6, in which JPMorgan has 46% stake, is expected to break even "very soon," Pinto said.

"We have not made any decision to have a bigger stake or not," Pinto added. The bank increased its holding in C6 by 6% in August 2023.

C6 posted a 2.2 billion real ($452.12 million) loss in 2022 as it increased provisions for credit losses.

In the U.S., Pinto said the so-called Basel endgame proposal requiring banks to set aside more capital could damage capital markets and lead to more extreme volatility.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has also blasted the draft rules, saying they would restrict lending for businesses and make U.S. banks less competitive.

($1 = 4.8660 reais)

(Reporting by Nupur Anand in New York; Editing by Lananh Nguyen and Sharon Singleton)