JPMorgan Unit’s London Staff May Go as Loss Prompts Exits (Update 1)
By Dawn Kopecki - May 14, 2012 2:44 AM ET
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JPMorgan's London CIO Staff May Lose Jobs
The entire
London staff of
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)’s chief investment office is at risk of dismissal as a $2 billion trading loss prompts the first executive departures as soon as this week, a person familiar with the situation said.
Ina Drew, who oversees the unit, may resign as soon as this week, according to another person, who requested anonymity because the deliberations are private.
Joseph Evangelisti, a bank spokesman, said Drew would have no comment. While the firm is examining whether anyone in the unit, which employs a few dozen people in London, sought to hide risks, there isn’t yet evidence that’s the case, one of the people said.
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JPMorgan Unit’s Whole London Staff May Be at Risk as Exits Start
Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
The offices of JPMorgan Chase & Co. are seen in the business and financial district of Canary Wharf in London.
The offices of JPMorgan Chase & Co. are seen in the business and financial district of Canary Wharf in London. Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
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May 14 (Bloomberg) -- The entire London staff of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s chief investment office is at risk of dismissal as a $2 billion trading loss prompts the first executive departures as soon as this week, a person familiar with the situation said. Ina Drew, who oversees the unit, is among three people set to leave, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. John Dawson reports on Bloomberg Television's "On the Move Asia." (Source: Bloomberg)
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May 11 (Bloomberg) -- Jamie Dimon, chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Bloomberg's Dawn Kopecki and Christine Harper talk about JPMorgan's $2 billion trading loss after what Dimon said was an "egregious" failure in the firm's chief investment office. This report also includes comments from Bloomberg Television contributing editors William Cohan, Thomas Brown and Neil Barofsky, Portales Partners' Charles Peabody, Aegis Capital's Stanley Crouch, Fifth Third Asset Management's Keith Wirtz and Rochdale Securities' Richard Bove. (Source: Bloomberg)
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May 14 (Bloomberg) -- Alistair Scarff, an analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong, talks about JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s $2 billion trading loss and its implications for banking regulation and Asian banks. Scarff also discusses China's banking industry and the reserve ratio cut announced by the People's Bank of China on May 12. He speaks with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg)
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May 10 (Bloomberg) -- Thursday's "Bloomberg Rewind" includes a discussion of the biggest news of the day and wrap-up of the markets. (Source: Bloomberg)
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JPMorgan Credit Rating Cut by Fitch on $2 Billion Trading Loss
Peter Foley/Bloomberg
Signage stands outside JP Morgan Chase & Co. headquarters in New York.
Signage stands outside JP Morgan Chase & Co. headquarters in New York. Photographer: Peter Foley/Bloomberg
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JPMorgan Chase CIO Ina Drew
JPMorgan Chase & Co. via Bloomberg
JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Investment Officer Ina Drew.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Investment Officer Ina Drew. Source: JPMorgan Chase & Co. via Bloomberg
Chief Executive
Jamie Dimon, 56, announced the loss May 10, assailing his firm’s handling of trading in synthetic credit securities as “flawed, complex, poorly reviewed, poorly executed and poorly monitored.” Initially, he resisted accepting Drew’s resignation, the person said. The incident has given ammunition to proponents of stricter
bank regulations.
Drew, 55, is one of two women on the operating committee at JPMorgan, the biggest and
most profitable U.S. bank. Her office oversees about $360 billion, the difference between money from deposits and what the bank lends. Dimon had encouraged her unit to boost earnings by buying higher-yielding assets, including structured credit, equities and derivatives, in an expansion of risk-taking led by Achilles Macris, ex-employees said in April.
Macris, 50, and a trader on his team, Javier Martin-Artajo, also are leaving the New York-based firm with Drew, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, citing the unidentified people. Macris and Martin-Artajo didn’t respond to messages left outside of regular business hours.
To contact the reporter on this story: Dawn Kopecki in
New York at
dkopecki@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Scheer at
dscheer@bloomberg.net