Jamie Dimon: Buck Stops Somewhere Below Me – JPMorgan Clawbacks Aimed at Lesser Souls

by YCharts Staff July 11, 2012

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) plans to claw back bonuses from executives who caused the bank to lose up to $9 billion on some cruddy trades. The targets include Ina Drew, who ran the chief investment office, as well as the “London Whale” trader, Bruno Iksil, who made the bad bets.

This looks like good public relations, and not much more. Despite a Bloomberg report in June that heaped some blame on Jamie Dimon, it doesn’t seem like Dimon will be made to return funds. Doing that could chasten him. Instead, he'll keep his job, his money and his bravado.

Moreover while the Wall Street Journal reports the amounts to be clawed back are still to be determined, they're probably not enough to matter. Drew and Iksil made millions but nowhere close to the amount the bank lost, whatever that amount may be. It was first announced as $2 billion on May 10, later reports described it as up to $9 billion, and now $5 billion is the anticipated official figure for the quarter.

All told, clawbacks are a good idea, but these won’t help investors much in the short term or the long term.