JPMorgan Chase

The logo used by Chase following the merger with the Manhattan Bank in 1954

The Chase Manhattan Bank was formed upon the 1955 purchase of Chase National Bank (established in 1877) by the Bank of the Manhattan Company (established in 1799),[14] the company's oldest predecessor institution. The Bank of the Manhattan Company was the creation of Aaron Burr, who transformed The Manhattan Company from a water carrier into a bank.[15]

According to page 115 of An Empire of Wealth by John Steele Gordon, the origin of this strand of JPMorgan Chase's history runs as follows:

At the turn of the nineteenth century, obtaining a bank charter required an act of the state legislature. This of course injected a powerful element of politics into the process and invited what today would be called corruption but then was regarded as business as usual. Hamilton's political enemy—and eventual murderer—Aaron Burr was able to create a bank by sneaking a clause into a charter for a company, called the Manhattan Company, to provide clean water to New York City. The innocuous-looking clause allowed the company to invest surplus capital in any lawful enterprise. Within six months of the company's creation, and long before it had laid a single section of water pipe, the company opened a bank, the Bank of the Manhattan Company. Still in existence, it is today J. P. Morgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States.

Led by David Rockefeller during the 1970s and 1980s, Chase Manhattan emerged as one of the largest and most prestigious banking concerns, with leadership positions in syndicated lending, treasury and securities services, credit cards, mortgages, and retail financial services. Weakened by the real estate collapse in the early 1990s, it was acquired by Chemical Bank in 1996, retaining the Chase name.[16][17] Before its merger with J.P. Morgan & Co., the new Chase expanded the investment and asset management groups through two acquisitions. In 1999, it acquired San Francisco-based Hambrecht & Quist for $1.35 billion.[18] In April 2000, UK-based Robert Fleming & Co. was purchased by the new Chase Manhattan Bank for $7.7 billion.[19]

The New York Chemical Manufacturing Company was founded in 1823 as a maker of various chemicals. In 1824, the company amended its charter to perform banking activities and created the Chemical Bank of New York. After 1851, the bank was separated from its parent and grew organically and through a series of mergers, most notably with Corn Exchange Bank in 1954, Texas Commerce Bank (a large bank in Texas) in 1986, and Manufacturer's Hanover Trust Company in 1991 (the first major bank merger "among equals"). In the 1980s and early 1990s, Chemical emerged as one of the leaders in the financing of leveraged buyout transactions. In 1984, Chemical launched Chemical Venture Partners to invest in private equity transactions alongside various financial sponsors. By the late 1980s, Chemical developed its reputation for financing buyouts, building a syndicated leveraged finance business and related advisory businesses under the auspices of the pioneering investment banker, Jimmy Lee.[20][21] At many points throughout this history, Chemical Bank was the largest bank in the United States (either in terms of assets or deposit market share).

In 1996, Chemical Bank acquired Chase Manhattan. Although Chemical was the nominal survivor, it took the better-known Chase name.[16][17] To this day, JPMorgan Chase retains Chemical's pre-1996 stock price history, as well as Chemical's former headquarters site at 270 Park Avenue (with the current building being demolished for a replacement headquarters on the same site).

The J.P. Morgan & Co. logo before its merger with Chase Manhattan Bank in 2000

Influence of J.P. Morgan in Large Corporations, 1914

The J.P. Morgan headquarters in New York City following the September 16, 1920 bomb explosion that took the lives of 38 and injured over 400

The House of Morgan was born out of the partnership of Drexel, Morgan & Co., which in 1895 was renamed J.P. Morgan & Co. (see also: J. Pierpont Morgan).[22] J.P. Morgan & Co. financed the formation of the United States Steel Corporation, which took over the business of Andrew Carnegie and others and was the world's first billion dollar corporation.[23] In 1895, J.P. Morgan & Co. supplied the United States government with $62 million in gold to float a bond issue and restore the treasury surplus of $100 million.[24] In 1892, the company began to finance the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and led it through a series of acquisitions that made it the dominant railroad transporter in New England.[25]

Built in 1914, 23 Wall Street was the bank's headquarters for decades. On September 16, 1920, a terrorist bomb exploded in front of the bank, injuring 400 and killing 38.[26] Shortly before the bomb went off, a warning note was placed in a mailbox at the corner of Cedar Street and Broadway. The case has never been solved, and was rendered inactive by the FBI in 1940.[27]

In August 1914, Henry P. Davison, a Morgan partner, made a deal with the Bank of England to make J.P. Morgan & Co. the monopoly underwriter of war bonds for the UK and France. The Bank of England became a "fiscal agent" of J.P. Morgan & Co., and vice versa.[28] The company also invested in the suppliers of war equipment to Britain and France. The company profited from the financing and purchasing activities of the two European governments.[28]

In the 1930s, J.P. Morgan & Co. and all integrated banking businesses in the United States were required by the provisions of the Glass–Steagall Act to separate their investment banking from their commercial banking operations. J.P. Morgan & Co. chose to operate as a commercial bank.[29]

In 1935, after being barred from the securities business for over a year, the heads of J.P. Morgan spun off its investment-banking operations. Led by J.P. Morgan partners, Henry S. Morgan (son of Jack Morgan and grandson of J. Pierpont Morgan) and Harold Stanley, Morgan Stanley was founded on September 16, 1935, with $6.6 million of nonvoting preferred stock from J.P. Morgan partners.[29] In order to bolster its position, in 1959, J.P. Morgan merged with the Guaranty Trust Company of New York to form the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company.[22] The bank would continue to operate as Morgan Guaranty Trust until the 1980s, before migrating back to the use of the J.P. Morgan brand. In 1984, the group purchased the Purdue National Corporation of Lafayette Indiana. In 1988, the company once again began operating exclusively as J.P. Morgan & Co.[30]

Logo of Bank One

In 2004, JPMorgan Chase merged with Chicago-based Bank One Corp., bringing on board current Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon as president and COO.[31] He succeeded former CEO William B. Harrison, Jr.[32] Dimon introduced new cost-cutting strategies, and replaced former JPMorgan Chase executives in key positions with Bank One executives—many of whom were with Dimon at Citigroup. Dimon became CEO in December 2005 and Chairman in December 2006.[33]

Bank One Corporation was formed with the 1998 merger of Banc One of Columbus, Ohio and First Chicago NBD.[34] This merger was considered a failure until Dimon took over and reformed the new firm's practices. Dimon effected changes to make Bank One Corporation a viable merger partner for JPMorgan Chase.[35]

The First Chicago Bank logo

Bank One Corporation, formerly First Bancgroup of Ohio, was founded as a holding company for City National Bank of Columbus, Ohio, and several other banks in that state, all of which were renamed "Bank One" when the holding company was renamed Banc One Corporation.[36] With the beginning of interstate banking they spread into other states, always renaming acquired banks "Bank One." After the First Chicago NBD merger, adverse financial results led to the departure of CEO John B. McCoy, whose father and grandfather had headed Banc One and predecessors. JPMorgan Chase completed the acquisition of Bank One in the third quarter of 2004.[36]

The Bear Stearns logo

At the end of 2007, Bear Stearns was the fifth largest investment bank in the United States but its market capitalization had deteriorated through the second half of the year.[37] On Friday, March 14, 2008, Bear Stearns lost 47% of its equity market value as rumors emerged that clients were withdrawing capital from the bank. Over the following weekend, it emerged that Bear Stearns might prove insolvent, and on March 15, 2008, the Federal Reserve engineered a deal to prevent a wider systemic crisis from the collapse of Bear Stearns.[38]

On March 16, 2008, after a weekend of intense negotiations between JPMorgan, Bear, and the federal government, JPMorgan Chase announced its plans to acquire Bear Stearns in a stock swap worth $2.00 per share or $240 million pending shareholder approval scheduled within 90 days.[38] In the interim, JPMorgan Chase agreed to guarantee all Bear Stearns trades and business process flows.[39] On March 18, 2008, JPMorgan Chase formally announced the acquisition of Bear Stearns for $236 million.[37] The stock swap agreement was signed that night.[40]

On March 24, 2008, after public discontent over the low acquisition price threatened the deal's closure, a revised offer was announced at approximately $10 per share.[37] Under the revised terms, JPMorgan also immediately acquired a 39.5% stake in Bear Stearns using newly issued shares at the new offer price and gained a commitment from the board, representing another 10% of the share capital, that its members would vote in favor of the new deal. With sufficient commitments to ensure a successful shareholder vote, the merger was completed on May 30, 2008.[41]

The Washington Mutual logo prior to its 2008 acquisition by JPMorgan Chase

On September 25, 2008, JPMorgan Chase bought most of the banking operations of Washington Mutual from the receivership of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. That night, the Office of Thrift Supervision, in what was by far the largest bank failure in American history, had seized Washington Mutual Bank and placed it into receivership. The FDIC sold the bank's assets, secured debt obligations, and deposits to JPMorgan Chase & Co for $1.836 billion, which re-opened the bank the following day. As a result of the takeover, Washington Mutual shareholders lost all their equity.[42]

JPMorgan Chase raised $10 billion in a stock sale to cover writedowns and losses after taking on deposits and branches of Washington Mutual.[43] Through the acquisition, JPMorgan now owns the former accounts of Providian Financial, a credit card issuer WaMu acquired in 2005. The company announced plans to complete the rebranding of Washington Mutual branches to Chase by late 2009.

Chief executive Alan H. Fishman received a $7.5 million sign-on bonus and cash severance of $11.6 million after being CEO for 17 days.[44]

On November 19, 2013, the Justice Department announced that JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay $13 billion to settle investigations into its business practices pertaining to mortgage-backed securities.[45] Of that amount, $9 billion was penalties and fines, and the remaining $4 billion was consumer relief. This was the largest corporate settlement to date. Conduct at Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual prior to their 2008 acquisitions accounted for much of the alleged wrongdoing. The agreement did not settle criminal charges.[46]

In 2006, JPMorgan Chase purchased Collegiate Funding Services, a portfolio company of private equity firm Lightyear Capital, for $663 million. CFS was used as the foundation for the Chase Student Loans, previously known as Chase Education Finance.[47]

In April 2006, JPMorgan Chase acquired Bank of New York Mellon's retail and small business banking network. The acquisition gave Chase access to 339 additional branches in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.[48]

In March 2008, JPMorgan acquired the UK-based carbon offsetting company ClimateCare.[49]

In November 2009, JPMorgan announced it would acquire the balance of JPMorgan Cazenove, an advisory and underwriting joint venture established in 2004 with the Cazenove Group, for GBP1 billion.[50]

In January 2013, JPMorgan acquired Bloomspot, a San Francisco-based startup in the "deals" space for $35 million. Shortly after the acquisition, the service was shut down and Bloomspot's talent was left unused.[51][52]

The following is an illustration of the company's major mergers and acquisitions and historical predecessors, although this is not a comprehensive list:

In October 2014, JPMorgan sold its commodities trader unit to Mercuria for $800 million, a quarter of the initial valuation of $3.5 billion, as the transaction excluded some oil and metal stockpiles and other assets.[62]

In March 2016, JPMorgan decided not to finance coal mines and coal power plants in wealthy countries.[63] In September 2016, JPMorgan made an equity investment in InvestCloud.[64] In December 2016, 14 former executives of the Wendel investment company faced trial for tax fraud while JP Morgan Chase was to be pursued for complicity. Jean-Bernard Lafonta was convicted December 2015 for spreading false information and insider trading, and fined 1.5 million euros.[65]

In March 2017, Lawrence Obracanik, a former JPMorgan Chase & Co employee, pleaded guilty to criminal charges that he stole more than $5 million from his employer to pay personal debts.[66] In June 2017, Matt Zames, the now-former COO of the bank decided to leave the firm.[67] In December 2017, JP Morgan was sued by the Nigerian government for $875 million, which Nigeria alleges was transferred by JP Morgan to a corrupt former minister.[68] Nigeria accused JP Morgan of being "grossly negligent".[69]

In October 2018, Reuters reported that JP Morgan "agreed to pay $5.3 million to settle allegations it violated Cuban Assets Control Regulations, Iranian sanctions and Weapons of Mass Destruction sanctions 87 times, the U.S. Treasury said".[70]

In February 2019, JP Morgan announced the launch of JPM Coin, a digital token that will be used to settle transactions between clients of its wholesale payments business.[71] It would be the first cryptocurrency issued by a United States bank.[72]

In September 2020, the company admitted that it manipulated precious metals futures and government bond markets in a span period of eight years. It settled with the United States Department of Justice, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for $920 million. JPMorgan will not face criminal charges, however, it will launch into a deferred prosecution agreement for three years.[73]

According to SEC filings, JPMorgan Chase & Co. paid its CEO $28,320,175 in 2017. The average worker employed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. was paid $77,799 in 2017; thus marking a CEO-to-worker Pay Ratio of 364 to 1.[84] As of April 2018, steelmaker Nucor represented the median CEO-to-worker Pay Ratio from SEC filings with values of 133 to 1.[85] Bloomberg BusinessWeek on May 2, 2013 found the ratio of CEO pay to the typical worker rose from about 20-to-1 in the 1950s to 120-to-1 in 2000.[86]

Total 2018 compensation for Jamie Dimon, CEO, was $30,040,153, and total compensation of the median employee was determined to be $78,923. The resulting pay ratio was estimated to be 381:1.[87]

The company, known previously as Chase Manhattan International Limited, was founded on September 18, 1968.[90][91]

In August 2008, the bank announced plans to construct a new European headquarters at Canary Wharf, London.[92] These plans were subsequently suspended in December 2010, when the bank announced the purchase of a nearby existing office tower at 25 Bank Street for use as the European headquarters of its investment bank.[93] 25 Bank Street had originally been designated as the European headquarters of Enron and was subsequently used as the headquarters of Lehman Brothers International (Europe).

The regional office is in London with offices in Bournemouth, Glasgow, and Edinburgh for asset management, private banking, and investment.[94]

• Chairman: Jamie Dimon (since January 2007)[95]
• Chief Executive: Jamie Dimon (since January 2006)[95]

1. William B. Harrison Jr. (2000–2006)[96]

1. William B. Harrison Jr. (2000–2005)[96]

The Bank began operations in Japan in 1924,[98] in Australia during the later part of the nineteenth century,[99] and in Indonesia during the early 1920s.[100] An office of the Equitable Eastern Banking Corporation (one of J.P. Morgan's predecessors) opened a branch in China in 1921 and Chase National Bank was established there in 1923.[101] The bank has operated in Saudi Arabia[102] and India[103] since the 1930s. Chase Manhattan Bank opened an office in Korea in 1967.[104] The firm's presence in Greece dates to 1968.[105] An office of JPMorgan was opened in Taiwan in 1970,[106] in Russia (Soviet Union) in 1973,[107] and Nordic operations began during the same year.[108] Operations in Poland began in 1995.[105]

The GHIF is now partnering with AtomoRapid and NG Biotech to bring COVID-19 testing supplies to the market.[111]

In December 2002, Chase paid fines totaling $80 million, with the amount split between the states and the federal government. The fines were part of a settlement involving charges that ten banks, including Chase, deceived investors with biased research. The total settlement with the ten banks was $1.4 billion. The settlement required that the banks separate investment banking from research, and ban any allocation of IPO shares.[113]

Chase paid out over $2 billion in fines and legal settlements for their role in financing Enron Corporation with aiding and abetting Enron Corp.'s securities fraud, which collapsed amid a financial scandal in 2001.[114] In 2003, Chase paid $160 million in fines and penalties to settle claims by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Manhattan district attorney's office. In 2005, Chase paid $2.2 billion to settle a lawsuit filed by investors in Enron.[115]

JPMorgan Chase, which helped underwrite $15.4 billion of WorldCom's bonds, agreed in March 2005 to pay $2 billion; that was 46 percent, or $630 million, more than it would have paid had it accepted an investor offer in May 2004 of $1.37 billion. J.P. Morgan was the last big lender to settle. Its payment is the second largest in the case, exceeded only by the $2.6 billion accord reached in 2004 by Citigroup.[116] In March 2005, 16 of WorldCom's 17 former underwriters reached settlements with the investors.[117][118]

In November 2009, a week after Birmingham, Alabama Mayor Larry Langford was convicted for financial crimes related to bond swaps for Jefferson County, Alabama, JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to a $722 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to end a probe into the sales of derivatives that allegedly contributed to the near-bankruptcy of the county. JPMorgan had been chosen by the county commissioners to refinance the county's sewer debt, and the SEC had alleged that JPMorgan made undisclosed payments to close friends of the commissioners in exchange for the deal and made up for the costs by charging higher interest rates on the swaps.[119]

In June 2010, J.P. Morgan Securities was fined a record £33.32 million ($49.12 million) by the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) for failing to protect an average of £5.5 billion of clients' money from 2002 to 2009.[120][121] FSA requires financial firms to keep clients' funds in separate accounts to protect the clients in case such a firm becomes insolvent. The firm had failed to properly segregate client funds from corporate funds following the merger of Chase and J.P. Morgan, resulting in a violation of FSA regulations but no losses to clients. The clients' funds would have been at risk had the firm become insolvent during this period.[122] J.P. Morgan Securities reported the incident to the FSA, corrected the errors, and cooperated in the ensuing investigation, resulting in the fine being reduced 30% from an original amount of £47.6 million.[121]

In January 2011, JPMorgan Chase admitted that it wrongly overcharged several thousand military families for their mortgages, including active-duty personnel in Afghanistan. The bank also admitted it improperly foreclosed on more than a dozen military families; both actions were in clear violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act which automatically lowers mortgage rates to 6 percent, and bars foreclosure proceedings of active-duty personnel. The overcharges may have never come to light were it not for legal action taken by Captain Jonathan Rowles. Both Captain Rowles and his spouse Julia accused Chase of violating the law and harassing the couple for nonpayment. An official stated that the situation was "grim" and Chase initially stated it would be refunding up to $2,000,000 to those who were overcharged, and that families improperly foreclosed on have gotten or will get their homes back.[123] Chase has acknowledged that as many as 6,000 active duty military personnel were illegally overcharged, and more than 18 military families homes were wrongly foreclosed. In April, Chase agreed to pay a total of $27 million in compensation to settle the class-action suit.[124] At the company's 2011 shareholders' meeting, Dimon apologized for the error and said the bank would forgive the loans of any active-duty personnel whose property had been foreclosed. In June 2011, lending chief Dave Lowman was forced out over the scandal.[125][126]

In 2008 and 2009, 14 lawsuits were filed against JPMorgan Chase in various district courts on behalf of Chase credit card holders claiming the bank violated the Truth in Lending Act, breached its contract with the consumers, and committed a breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The consumers contended that Chase, with little or no notice, increased minimum monthly payments from 2% to 5% on loan balances that were transferred to consumers' credit cards based on the promise of a fixed interest rate. In May 2011, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California certified the class action lawsuit. On July 23, 2012, Chase agreed to pay $100 million to settle the claim.[127]

In July 2013, The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved a stipulation and consent agreement under which JPMorgan Ventures Energy Corporation (JPMVEC), a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase & Co., agreed to pay $410 million in penalties and disgorgement to ratepayers for allegations of market manipulation stemming from the company's bidding activities in electricity markets in California and the Midwest from September 2010 through November 2012. JPMVEC agreed to pay a civil penalty of $285 million to the U.S. Treasury and to disgorge $125 million in unjust profits. JPMVEC admitted the facts set forth in the agreement, but neither admitted nor denied the violations.[128]

The case stemmed from multiple referrals to FERC from market monitors in 2011 and 2012 regarding JPMVEC's bidding practices. FERC investigators determined that JPMVEC engaged in 12 manipulative bidding strategies designed to make profits from power plants that were usually out of the money in the marketplace. In each of them, the company made bids designed to create artificial conditions that forced California and Midcontinent Independent System Operators (ISOs) to pay JPMVEC outside the market at premium rates.[128]

FERC investigators further determined that JPMVEC knew that the California ISO and Midcontinent ISO received no benefit from making inflated payments to the company, thereby defrauding the ISOs by obtaining payments for benefits that the company did not deliver beyond the routine provision of energy. FERC investigators also determined that JPMVEC's bids displaced other generation and altered day ahead and real-time prices from the prices that would have resulted had the company not submitted the bids.[128]

Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Congress directed FERC to detect, prevent, and appropriately sanction the gaming of energy markets. According to FERC, the Commission approved the settlement as in the public interest.[128]

FERC's investigation of energy market manipulations led to a subsequent investigation into possible obstruction of justice by employees of JPMorgan Chase.[129] Various newspapers reported in September 2013 that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and US Attorney's Office in Manhattan were investigating whether employees withheld information or made false statements during the FERC investigation.[129] The reported impetus for the investigation was a letter from Massachusetts Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, in which they asked FERC why no action was taken against people who impeded the FERC investigation.[129] At the time of the FBI investigation, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations was also looking into whether JPMorgan Chase employees impeded the FERC investigation.[129] Reuters reported that JPMorgan Chase was facing over a dozen investigations at the time.[129]

On August 25, 2011, JPMorgan Chase agreed to settle fines with regard to violations of the sanctions under the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regime. The U.S. Department of Treasury released the following civil penalties information under the heading: "JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. Settles Apparent Violations of Multiple Sanctions Programs":

JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A, New York, NY ("JPMC") has agreed to remit $88,300,000 to settle a potential civil liability for apparent violations of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations ("CACR"), 31 C.F.R. part 515; the Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators Sanctions Regulations ("WMDPSR"), 31 C.F.R. part 544; Executive Order 13382, "Blocking Property of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators and Their Supporters;" the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations ("GTSR"), 31 C.F.R. part 594; the Iranian Transactions Regulations ("ITR"), 31 C.F.R. part 560; the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations ("SSR"), 31 C.F.R. part 538; the Former Liberian Regime of Charles Taylor Sanctions Regulations ("FLRCTSR"), 31 C.F.R. part 593; and the Reporting, Procedures, and Penalties Regulations ("RPPR"), 31 C.F.R. part 501, that occurred between December 15, 2005, and March 1, 2011.

— U.S. Department of the Treasury Resource Center, OFAC Recent Actions. Retrieved June 18, 2013.[130]

On February 9, 2012, it was announced that the five largest mortgage servicers (Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo) agreed to a historic settlement with the federal government and 49 states.[131] The settlement, known as the National Mortgage Settlement (NMS), required the servicers to provide about $26 billion in relief to distressed homeowners and in direct payments to the states and federal government. This settlement amount makes the NMS the second largest civil settlement in U.S. history, only trailing the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.[132] The five banks were also required to comply with 305 new mortgage servicing standards. Oklahoma held out and agreed to settle with the banks separately.

In 2012, JPMorgan Chase & Co was charged for misrepresenting and failing to disclose that the CIO had engaged in extremely risky and speculative trades that exposed JPMorgan to significant losses.[133]

In August 2013, JPMorgan Chase announced that it was being investigated by the United States Department of Justice over its offerings of mortgage-backed securities leading up to the financial crisis of 2007–08. The company said that the Department of Justice had preliminarily concluded that the firm violated federal securities laws in offerings of subprime and Alt-A residential mortgage securities during the period 2005 to 2007.[134]

In November 2016, JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay $264 million in fines to settle civil and criminal charges involving a systematic bribery scheme spanning 2006 to 2013 in which the bank secured business deals in Hong Kong by agreeing to hire hundreds of friends and relatives of Chinese government officials, resulting in more than $100 million in revenue for the bank.[135]

Bernie Madoff opened a business account at Chemical Bank in 1986 and maintained it until 2008, long after Chemical acquired Chase.

In 2010, Irving Picard, the SIPC receiver appointed to liquidate Madoff's company, alleged that JPMorgan failed to prevent Madoff from defrauding his customers. According to the suit, Chase "knew or should have known" that Madoff's wealth management business was a fraud. However, Chase did not report its concerns to regulators or law enforcement until October 2008, when it notified the UK Serious Organised Crime Agency. Picard argued that even after Morgan's investment bankers reported its concerns about Madoff's performance to UK officials, Chase's retail banking division did not put any restrictions on Madoff's banking activities until his arrest two months later.[136] The receiver's suit against J.P. Morgan was dismissed by the Court for failing to set forth any legally cognizable claim for damages.[137]

In the fall of 2013, JPMorgan began talks with prosecutors and regulators regarding compliance with anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer banking regulations in connection with Madoff.

On January 7, 2014, JPMorgan agreed to pay a total of $2.05 billion in fines and penalties to settle civil and criminal charges related to its role in the Madoff scandal. The government filed a two-count criminal information charging JPMorgan with Bank Secrecy Act violations, but the charges will be dismissed within two years provided that JPMorgan reforms its anti-money laundering procedures and cooperates with the government in its investigation. The bank agreed to forfeit $1.7 billion.

The lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of shareholders against Chief Executive Jamie Dimon and other high-ranking JPMorgan employees, used statements made by Bernie Madoff during interviews conducted while in prison in Butner, North Carolina claiming that JPMorgan officials knew of the fraud. The lawsuit stated that "JPMorgan was uniquely positioned for 20 years to see Madoff's crimes and put a stop to them ... But faced with the prospect of shutting down Madoff's account and losing lucrative profits, JPMorgan - at its highest level - chose to turn a blind eye."[138]

JPMorgan also agreed to pay a $350 million fine to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and settle the suit filed against it by Picard for $543 million.[139][140][141][142]

On March 26, 2014, the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption seized computer records and documents after searching the office of Fang Fang, the company's outgoing chief executive officer for China investment banking.[143]

A cyber-attack, disclosed in September 2014, compromised the JPMorgan Chase accounts of over 83 million customers. The attack was discovered by the bank's security team in late July 2014, but not completely halted until the middle of August.[144][145]

In January 2017, the United States sued the company, accusing it of discriminating against "thousands" of black and Hispanic mortgage borrowers between 2006 and at least 2009.[146][147]

On 26 December 2018, as part of an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into abusive practices related to American depositary receipts (ADRs), JPMorgan agreed to pay more than $135 million to settle charges of improper handling of "pre-released" ADRs without admitting or denying the SEC's findings. The sum consisted of $71 million in ill-gotten gains plus $14.4 million in prejudgment interest and an additional penalty of $49.7 million.[148]

JPMorgan has come under criticism for investing in new coal, oil and gas projects since the Paris climate change agreement. From 2016 to the first half of 2019 it provided $75 billion (£61 billion) to companies expanding in sectors such as fracking and Arctic oil and gas exploration.[149] According to Rainforest Action Network its total fossil fuel financing was $64 billion in 2018, $69 billion in 2017 and $62 billion in 2016.[150]

An internal study, 'Risky business: the climate and macroeconomy', by bank economists David Mackie and Jessica Murray was leaked in early‑2020. The report, dated 14 January 2020, states that under our current unsustainable trajectory "we cannot rule out catastrophic outcomes where human life as we know it is threatened". JPMorgan subsequently distanced itself from the content of the study.[151]

On May 14, 2020, Financial Times, citing a report which revealed how companies are treating employees, their supply chains and other stakeholders, following the COVID-19 pandemic, documented that JP Morgan Asset Management alongside Fidelity Investments and Vanguard have been accused of paying lip services to cover human rights violations. The UK based media also referenced that a few of the world's biggest fund houses took the action in order to lessen the impact of abuses, such as modern slavery, at the companies they invest in. However, JP Morgan replying to the report said that it took “human rights violations very seriously” and “any company with alleged or proven violations of principles, including human rights abuses, is scrutinised and may result in either enhanced engagement or removal from a portfolio.”[152]

In April 2012, hedge fund insiders became aware that the market in credit default swaps was possibly being affected by the activities of Bruno Iksil, a trader for JPMorgan Chase & Co., referred to as "the London whale" in reference to the huge positions he was taking. Heavy opposing bets to his positions are known to have been made by traders, including another branch of J.P. Morgan, who purchased the derivatives offered by J.P. Morgan in such high volume.[161][162] Early reports were denied and minimized by the firm in an attempt to minimize exposure.[163] Major losses, $2 billion, were reported by the firm in May 2012, in relation to these trades and updated to $4.4 billion on July 13, 2012.[164] The disclosure, which resulted in headlines in the media, did not disclose the exact nature of the trading involved, which remains in progress and as of June 28, 2012, was continuing to produce losses which could total as much as $9 billion under worst-case scenarios.[165][166] The item traded, possibly related to CDX IG 9, an index based on the default risk of major U.S. corporations,[167][168] has been described as a "derivative of a derivative".[169][170] On the company's emergency conference call, JPMorgan Chase Chairman, CEO and President Jamie Dimon said the strategy was "flawed, complex, poorly reviewed, poorly executed, and poorly monitored".[171] The episode is being investigated by the Federal Reserve, the SEC, and the FBI.[172]

On September 18, 2013, JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay a total of $920 million in fines and penalties to American and UK regulators for violations related to the trading loss and other incidents. The fine was part of a multiagency and multinational settlement with the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States and the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK. The company also admitted breaking American securities law.[174] The fines amounted to the third biggest banking fine levied by US regulators, and the second-largest by UK authorities.[173] As of September 19, 2013, two traders face criminal proceedings.[173] It is also the first time in several years that a major American financial institution has publicly admitted breaking the securities laws.[175]

A report by the SEC was critical of the level of oversight from senior management on traders, and the FCA said the incident demonstrated "flaws permeating all levels of the firm: from portfolio level right up to senior management."[173]

On the day of the fine, the BBC reported from the New York Stock Exchange that the fines "barely registered" with traders there, the news had been an expected development, and the company had prepared for the financial hit.[173]

As of 30 September 2020:[188]

• Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase
• Linda Bammann, former JPMorgan and Bank One executive
• Steve Burke, chairman of NBCUniversal
• Todd Combs, CEO of GEICO
• James Crown, president of Henry Crown and Company
• Timothy Flynn, former chairman and CEO of KPMG
• Mellody Hobson, CEO of Ariel Investments
• Michael Neal, CEO of GE Capital
• Lee Raymond, former chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil
• Virginia Rometty, Executive Chairman of IBM, former Chairman, President and CEO of IBM

• Winthrop Aldrich – son of the late Senator Nelson Aldrich
• Andrew Crockett – former general manager of the Bank for International Settlements (1994–2003)
• Pierre Danon – chairman of Eircom
• Dina Dublon – member of the board of directors of Microsoft, Accenture and PepsiCo and former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of JPMorgan Chase
• Maria Elena Lagomasino – member of the board of directors of The Coca-Cola Company and former CEO of JPMorgan Private Bank
• Jacob A. Frenkel – Governor of the Bank of Israel
• Thomas W. Lamont – acting head of J.P. Morgan & Co. on Black Tuesday
• Robert I. Lipp – former CEO of The Travelers Companies
• Marjorie Magner – chairman of Gannett Company[189]
• Henry S. Morgan – co-founder of Morgan Stanley, son of J. P. Morgan, Jr. and grandson of financier J. P. Morgan
• Lewis Reford – Canadian political candidate
• David Rockefeller – patriarch of the Rockefeller family
• Harold Stanley – former JPMorgan partner, co-founder of Morgan Stanley
• Jan Stenbeck – former owner of Investment AB Kinnevik [worked at Morgan Stanley but not JP Morgan; see Jan's Wikipedia page]
• Don M. Wilson III – former Chief Risk Officer (CRO) of J. P. Morgan and current member of the board of directors at Bank of Montreal
• Charlie Scharf, current CEO of Wells Fargo

• Frederick Ma – Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (2007–08)
• Tony Blair – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1997–2007)[190]
• William M. Daley – U.S. Secretary of Commerce (1997–2000), U.S. White House Chief of Staff (2011–2012)
• Michael Forsyth, Baron Forsyth of Drumlean – Secretary of State for Scotland (1995–97)
• Thomas S. Gates, Jr. – U.S. Secretary of Defense (1959–61)
• David Laws – UK Chief Secretary to the Treasury (May 2010) Minister of State for Schools
• Rick Lazio – member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1993–2001)
• Antony Leung – Financial Secretary of Hong Kong (2001–03)
• Dwight Morrow – U.S. Senator (1930–31)
• Margaret Ng – member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council
• George P. Shultz – U.S. Secretary of Labor (1969–70), U.S. Secretary of Treasury (1972–74), U.S. Secretary of State (1982–89)
• John J. McCloy – president of the World Bank, U.S. High Commissioner for Germany, chairman of Chase Manhattan Bank, chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Warren Commission, and a prominent United States adviser to all presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan
• Mahua Moitra – Indian Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha

• R. Gordon Wasson – ethnomycologist and former JPMorgan vice president[191][192]

• JPMorgan EMBI
• JPMorgan GBI-EM Index