JPMorgan promises $4B in loans in major push into DC

JPMorgan Chase is bringing its branch network to Washington, hiring as many as 700 new employees under a $20 billion investment program powered by deep Republican tax cuts for U.S. corporations.

While the largest U.S. lender has done business with private and commercial clients in the Baltimore-to-Richmond, Va., corridor since 1999, adding branches will allow it to build consumer and small-business relationships not possible previously. JPMorgan plans to open as many as 70 branches, some before the end of this year, Thasunda Duckett, head of the bank’s consumer business, said in an interview.