Major bank CEO says Trump's fiscal policies make US 'the No. 1 place to invest' again
Bank of America chairman, CEO argues economic ‘enthusiasm’ is ‘far greater’ in 2025
America has become 'the No. 1 place to invest' again: Bank of America's Brian Moynihan
Bank of America Chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan talks anticipating policy and regulation changes, the economic future in 2025, bank growth, rate trajectory and investment in artificial intelligence.
From mergers and acquisitions to deregulation and "competitive" tax structure, Bank of America’s top executive shared an optimistic picture of the U.S. economy under the second Trump administration.
"When you talk to the people around here, from all over the world, [in] business, it's the No. 1 place to invest. Not by a little bit, by a lot," BofA Chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan said of America’s economic landscape during a "Mornings with Maria" interview from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
"If you go back to the first Trump administration and the tax changes, that brought America's tax rate down to where it was competitive. America always has… [a] big market, biggest economy in the world, growing, et cetera," he continued. "America has good business conditions in terms of talent, people, worker flexibility, all those types of things.
"So you put all that together, it was a great place to invest. You go in and say now, I'm going to move the regulation back, and now I'm going to create even better conditions for investment."
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Bank of America Chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan, inset, is optimistic about the economic environment under a second Trump administration. (FOXBusiness)
Much of the banking industry is expecting more M&A deals coming to market under President Donald Trump, while he also plans to pull back regulations that stymied transactional activity during the Biden administration.
Former Biden appointees from the Federal Trade Commission, Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department's Antitrust Division halted almost all M&A activity since his term began in 2021. Those who chose to defy the regulatory restrictions faced prolonged legal battles with the Biden deal police.
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"We were sitting here last year, the issue of business inflation and interest rates, but another big issue was the amount of regulation in small and medium-sized companies, and in the banking system, and the mortgage companies. And the feeling is that it will now swing back to more normalcy," Moynihan noted.
"It swung way too far in the last administration," he added. "We tried to explain to them that was going to cause them troubles… But I think it's more important that the general economy feels a little bit of relief on regulation across the board, the ability to get deals done, and American companies can now go out domestically and around the world and be the kings that they're supposed to be."
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Moynihan explained that Bank of America’s top research team is expecting 2.4% GDP growth for the U.S. in 2025, the M&A pipeline being "full" and a 20% increase in IPOs.
"Therefore, that says the capital can be put to work. So all that bodes well," the chairman and CEO said. "The enthusiasm by our team for what's ahead is far greater than it was in the fourth quarter because that was sort of under the old regime."
FOX Business’ Eleanor Terrett contributed to this report.
