JP Morgan Chase announced the resignation of Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Ina Drew on Monday, the first management fallout after the bank's disastrous two billion U.S. dollar trading loss.
Drew, one of the most powerful women on Wall Street, had been at the head of Chase's Chief Investment Office, the division in which Chase's staggering trading loss had occurred.
In a press release Monday, Chase said that Drew had made the decision to retire, after more than 30 years with the company.
"Ina Drew has been a great partner over her many years with our firm. Despite our recent losses in the CIO, Ina's vast contributions to our company should not be overshadowed by these events," said Chase chief executive officer (CEO) Jamie Dimon.
Taking Drew's place as CIO at the bank giant is Matt Zames, currently co-head of Global Fixed Income in the Investment Bank.
The management changeup comes as Chase embarks on a massive campaign of damage control following Thursday's disclosure that the company had lost two billion dollars in trading activities over the last six weeks.
Additionally, Chase CEO Dimon told analysts that due to the investment portfolio that led to the staggering shortfall, the bank could lose one billion dollars more in the second quarter.
The Chase announcement led to massive outcry from the U.S. public, as similar trading activities had been partly responsible for the disastrous financial crisis only four years ago.
To compound matters, Dimon had previously advocated for less financial regulation and been openly against the Volcker Rule, a provision of the post-crisis Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act holding that banks should refrain from making speculative investments that do not benefit their customers.
Chase's massive loss thus seemed to only exaggerate the image of the irresponsible bank held by many Americans, and reignited the public dialogue for more banking rules to reign in Wall Street trading.
Over the weekend, Dimon made an appearance on the popular NBC news program Meet the Press, in which he had told moderator David Greggory that Chase had been "dead wrong" about the company's hedging positions.
"We made a terrible egregious mistake. There's almost no excuse for it," Dimon said, admitting that the loss had " absolutely" given momentum to the calls for more regulation and that for banks it was "a very unfortunate and inopportune time to have had this kind of mistake."
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also announced Friday it would be investigating the Chase loss, as the government potentially returns to the frontlines in the battle for new banking rules and regulation.
Source:china.org