JPMorgan ramps up hiring across Europe amid rising investor confidence, says it has ‘capital to deploy'

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is looking to expand its dealmaking team across Europe, as the Wall Street giant expects merger and acquisition (M&A) activity to surge in 2026, setting the stage for a strong year for investment banking.

“We’re hiring in every country, pretty much across the region,” JPMorgan’s co-head of global banking, Filippo Gori told Bloomberg, adding that the bank has “capital to deploy, it’s just a question of where best to deploy it.”

The executive said clients have sounded optimistic in meetings held across Europe in the first weeks of the year. Investors in Southern Europe are particularly confident, as growth is improving after years of post-financial crisis adjustment and restructuring.

His comments come as European bank executives worry that US lenders could deploy additional resources across the continent following a wave of deregulation at home, moves that may further strengthen their longstanding dominance.

2026 can be ‘one of the best years’ for M&A

The company also expects this year to be one of the best ever for mergers and acquisitions, driven by lower interest rates, stable credit conditions and a backlog of postponed transactions.

“It could be one of the best years ever from an M&A standpoint, globally, and in Europe, too,” Gori told the news agency. “Easing rate pressure, tight credit spreads and readily available financing are key ingredients for dealmaking, helping to narrow valuation gaps between buyers and sellers.”

This week JPMorgan reported fourth-quarter earnings that included lower-than-expected investment banking revenue. Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Barnum attributed the dip in part to the fact that some transactions were pushed to 2026.

Uptick in M&A activity

Mergers and acquisitions activity had an uptick last year after a prolonged period of slowdown, as years of high interest rates and disagreements in valuations had earlier dampened dealmaking.

However, about $903 billion worth of deals closed in Europe last year, up about 9% from 2024, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. But that volume is still shy of the more than $1 trillion the region cleared in 2021 and in the years leading up to the pandemic.

Technology, energy, financial services, fintech and infrastructure are expected to remain active sectors for M&A, alongside steady deal flow in the middle market. Deal flow is continuing in both directions: European companies pursuing growth in the US and American firms investing across Europe, the executive said.

However, inflation and geopolitical tensions could still disrupt dealmaking, particularly if global tensions push up costs. Productivity gains from artificial intelligence may also take more time than expected to materialise, potentially slowing transactions. Additional risks may also come from the ending of an unusually long benign credit cycle, the executive told Bloomberg.