The leader of JPMorgan Chase & Co's hedging unit is retiring after trading losses that could end up exceeding $3 billion, a shortfall that President Barack Obama said might have led the government to step in had such losses struck a smaller bank.
The Federal Reserve meanwhile said it is now looking into whether JPMorgan has similar risk problems at other units, joining a probe by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and upcoming hearings in the U.S. Senate.
Late Monday, a leading shareholder law firm said it filed a federal lawsuit against JPMorgan and various bank officials over the trading loss and its effect on the bank's stock price.
The news of the losses has wiped nearly $19 billion from JPMorgan's market capitalization in just two trading days and renewed the debate about financial regulation and the concept of being "too big to fail."
"This is the best, or one of the best managed banks. You could have a bank that isn't as strong, isn't as profitable making those same bets and we might have had to step in. That's exactly why Wall Street reform's so important," President Obama told ABC's "The View" in an interview taped to air Tuesday. The network released a partial transcript late Monday.
JPMorgan said Chief Investment Officer Ina Drew, 55, who was among the highest-paid executives at the bank, had decided to "retire from the firm."
She will be succeeded by Matt Zames, a trader by background who is well-versed in risky financial bets. He was at one time employed at Long-Term Capital Management, a hedge fund whose 1998 collapse nearly caused a global crisis. Zames has in past been tabbed as a potential successor to Dimon.
The bank's statement made no mention of two subordinates of Drew who were involved with the trades — London-based Achilles Macris and Javier Martin-Artajo — who sources had said would leave. A memo Zames sent to staff, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, said only that Macris would "transition his … responsibilities."
Shares of JPMorgan closed 3.2% lower at $35.79 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. Ratings service Moody's warned Monday the trading losses were a "credit negative" for bondholders as well.
But one investor called the sell-off "a gift" and said he was adding to his position, with an expectation the stock would rise roughly a third from current levels by year-end.
'NO CLUE' ON PROP BOOK
The departure of Drew after 30 years at JPMorgan comes after the unit she ran, the Chief Investment Office (CIO), mismanaged a portfolio of derivatives tied to the creditworthiness of bonds, according to bank executives.
Drew reported directly to Dimon, who was known to visit London to meet with traders from the CIO unit, including Macris. That said, it remains unclear how involved Dimon was in the precise details of the positions.
JPMorgan, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, also said that Mike Cavanagh, CEO of the Treasury & Securities Services group, would lead a team of executives overseeing its response to the losses.
In appointing Cavanagh to coordinate the bank's response to the loss, Dimon is turning to a long-time protégé. "Jamie usually gives him jobs heavy on management and strategy," said a former JPMorgan executive.
One hedge fund manager who previously ran a proprietary trading book at JPMorgan said the bank's public commitments to trim risk were at odds with its network of trading groups making bets independently, with only a handful of the bank's most senior executives notified of their vast, complex exposures.
"This (CIO) group was completely separate, completely distinct from the prop-trading unit. We had no clue about their prop book and they would have no clue about ours for that matter," the manager said.
