BOSTON: JPMorgan Chase & Co will soon issue a report outlining improved controls it has been enacting in the wake of recent missteps, including its role in the 2008 financial crisis, according to a shareholder activist who has seen a draft.
The report could add pressure on other banks to show tangible changes to policies after a slew of scandals tainted the industry, according to the activist, Seamus Finn, chair of the board of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility.
The report details policy changes, including guidelines on when the bank can claw back executives bonuses, specifics about how it manages risk, and details about the responsibilities of its board of directors, Finn said.
A JPMorgan official, Joe Evangelisti, said the bank would not comment on the report until it is issued, likely in the coming days. Members of Finn's group have pushed the bank to issue the report. Finn said his organization was satisfied with the draft. "There's clearly an acknowledgement of their mistakes," he said.
JPMorgan is the largest US bank with over $2.5 trillion in assets. In 2013, the bank agreed to a record $13 billion settlement with US regulators over charges related to its role in the US mortgage crisis - a key factor in the 2008 global financial meltdown.
In 2012, one of its traders, known as the "London Whale", lost more than $6 billion on bad derivatives trades, also raising the ire of regulators, and critics of the industry concerned by a lack of oversight.
JPMorgan Chairman and Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has already vowed improvements to the bank's standards.
Finn said JPMorgan's report could serve as a model in his group's talks with other banks such as Wells Fargo & Co and Bank of America. He said that while the new report does not seem to offer many new specifics, it will be helpful in judging the bank in the future.
Religious groups and labor unions have been among the most vocal shareholder activists calling for stricter corporate governance coming out of the financial crisis.
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