JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon on March 27 said the Wall Street bank would hire another 4,000 staff in India this year, taking its total there to about 9,000.

Dimon said the bank was increasing its presence elsewhere in Asia, with plans to hire 750 people in the Philippines this year and actively looking for acquisitions in China.

"We are optimistic about the future in China," Dimon said in a speech at the Detroit Economic Club.

In the wide-ranging speech, Dimon said the company -- an amalgamation of several mergers over the past decade -- would be capable of doing acquisitions by the end of this year, but the focus is organic growth.

Dimon said, at any given point of time, JP Morgan is looking at 30 to 40 companies, predominantly in the United States.

"We will be in the acquisition business again one day, but the most important thing we can do is grow our own business," he said. "Grow organically -- stores, bankers, salesmen."

The company had nearly 170,000 full-time employees as of Dec. 31.

JPMorgan Chase has grown into the third biggest bank in the United States, after absorbing companies like J.P. Morgan & Co., Chemical Bank, Manufacturers Hanover, and Bank One.

Dimon also said increasing the company's dividend was not high on his priority list for this year.

"I would like to see sustainable, true underlying growth," he said.

( www.financialexpress.com)