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Bob Dylan once observed (in his 1962 song “Talkin’ New York”) that “some people rob you with a fountain pen.”
That line may very well come to mind while hearing the exploits of the megabank JPMorgan Chase (in terms of assets, the biggest U.S. bank) and its chairman and CEO, Jamie Dimon. And just as mobster John Gotti was known as “the Teflon Don,” Jamie Dimon might be called “the Teflon Banker.”
The latest installment is chronicled by Wall Street On Parade on 23 July, but the story goes back some seven years. That was when the first of five separate felony counts was brought against the bank by the U.S. Justice Dept. And while the bank admitted to all counts, regulators managed to take no action, and Dimon and his Board of Directors have kept their lucrative jobs.
The fourth and fifth felony counts involved the bank having rigged the precious metals and U.S. Treasury markets, and were settled last fall with a payout of over $920 million of shareholders’ money. That didn’t send anyone to the unemployment line, either; Dimon continued to be handsomely compensated (including stock options, on which much of the wheeling and dealing was based) for his services to the bank. In 2020 that annual compensation was over $31.5 million.
Trends Journal has written about the shenanigans of the world’s megabanks; see our article of 31 July 2015, “SEVEN YEARS OF THE RIGGING GAME.”
But wait, there’s more! All the preceding is just old news. What makes this a story today is that, on 20 July, the JPMorgan Chase board announced that it will award Dimon a bonus consisting of stock options worth some $50 million. And, while he can’t exercise the options for five years, that shouldn’t subject him to any hardship; his net worth, according to Forbes, is already $1.8 billion.
In its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the bank had this to say about Dimon’s award: “This special award reflects the Board’s desire for Mr. Dimon to continue to lead the Firm for a significant number of years. In making the special award, the Board considered the importance of Mr. Dimon’s continuing, long-term stewardship of the Firm, leadership continuity, and management succession planning amidst a highly competitive landscape for executive leadership talent.”
TRENDPOST: Trends Journal has long been writing about the dirty deals of the world’s mega-banksters. See our article of 31 July 2015, “SEVEN YEARS OF THE RIGGING GAME.”
And as we noted in our 29 September 2020 article of how JPMorgan Chase rigged the precious metals market, paid a minimal fine, and no one went to jail: “DON’T CALL THEM ‘CRIMINALS’ – THEY’RE ‘WHITE SHOE BOYS’!”