JPMorgan stock rises as CEO testifies
NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose Wednesday, posting some of the market's largest gains, as its chief executive told Congress about the $2 billion trading loss that the bank disclosed last month.
JPMorgan Chase's stock price fell slightly when the markets opened at 9:30 a.m. Eastern, but began climbing steadily when the hearing began a half-hour later. At its peak during the hearing, its stock was up 3.2 percent to $34.84, making it the best performer among the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones industrial average.
It extended its gains after the hearing ended at midday, rising as high as $35.07 in early afternoon trading. But that was still almost 25 percent below its 52-week high of $46.49 set in late March.
CEO Jamie Dimon said in his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee that the senior bank executives responsible for the trading loss will probably have some of their pay taken back by the company.
Under bank policy, Dimon said, stock and bonuses can be recovered from executives, even for exercising bad judgment. The policy has never been invoked, he said.
Dimon, under close questioning about his role in setting up the investment division of the bank responsible for the loss, declared: "We made a mistake. I'm absolutely responsible. The buck stops with me."
The trading loss has heightened concerns that the biggest banks still pose risks to the U.S. financial system, less than four years after the financial crisis in the fall of 2008.
Two Democrats on the committee, Sens. Charles Schumer of New York and Robert Menendez of New Jersey, expressed concern about what would have happened if the trading loss had occurred at a weaker bank.
JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States by assets and is considered among the strongest. Dimon often makes note of the bank's "fortress balance sheet."
