UPDATE 1-JPMorgan CEO says seeks US South presence

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By Joseph A. Giannone

NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) Chairman and Chief Executive Jamie Dimon, speaking to shareholders at the annual meeting Tuesday, said he wants to expand the company's consumer banking business in Washington, D.C., and the southern United States.

"We'd love to be in the South," Dimon said in response to a shareholder asking if Chase would have more branches in places like Florida and Georgia.

Earlier in the meeting, he told another shareholder, "We would like to be in Washington one day."

Dimon declined to comment on takeover talk, though he reasserted his view that JPMorgan's pending merger with Bear Stearns Cos BSC.N for about $1.5 billion would not stop it from pursuing other deals.

JPMorgan has in the past told investors it was interested in expanding its retail banking business in the United States outside its base in the New York City region and the former Bank One's network in the Great Lakes and Midwest states.

Recently, takeover speculation has linked JPMorgan Chase with Washington Mutual (WM.N), the largest U.S. savings & loan, as well as PNC Financial Services Group Inc (PNC.N) of Pittsburgh and SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI.N)