Jamie Dimon survives JP Morgan vote
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E-mail Xinhua, May 22, 2013
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s Jamie Dimon will keep his dual roles as chief executive officer (CEO) and chairman of the financial firm after a majority of shareholders voted against a proposal to split the two roles.
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Jamie Dimon [File photo] |
According to local media reports, only 32.2 percent of shareholders voted for the proposal to strip Dimon of his chairman title at the bank's annual meeting held Tuesday in Tampa, Florida. The number is much less than a 40-percent vote of a similar proposal last year.
Dimon has reportedly expressed his intention to resign if his roles were split.
Dimon has led the largest U.S. bank with assets of 2.4 trillion U.S. dollars out of the financial crisis, thus won his reputation on Wall Street. But the "London Whale" trading debacle last year has put Dimon and the bank's risk committee under fire from shareholders.
Dimon said at the shareholder meeting that the "London Whale" situation was "damaging and embarrassing" for the company and they would do everything necessary to meet the requirements for regulators.
Lee Raymond, presiding director of the board, said at the meeting that Dimon, being chairman and CEO with an independent board, is the right way for the company at this time.
Raymond gave high recognition to Dimon's role, which was exemplified by the company's absolute strong performance compared to the industry average during Dimon's tenor.
Dimon held both positions as chairman and CEO of JP Morgan Chase over the past six annual meetings.
"The board can fire management and management cannot fire the board," Raymond was quoted by local media as saying.
According to its most recent earnings report, the company made a record net income of 6.5 billion dollars in the first quarter of this year, or a record 1.59-dollar earnings per share, on revenue of 25.8 billion dollars. Shares of JP Morgan Chase has risen 20.6 percent year to date.
The so-called "London Whale" debacle was a complex set of synthetic credit derivatives trades conducted by traders in the London office of Chief Investment Officer of JP Morgan in early 2012 and ended up costing the bank at least 6.2 billion dollars, according to a report released on March 15 by the U.S. Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
According to the report, JP Morgan Chase was accused of engaging in high risk derivatives trading, hiding massive losses, dodging regulatory oversight, and misinforming investors, regulators, and the public about the nature of its risky derivatives trading.
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