JPMorgan CEO says clawbacks of executive pay ‘likely’

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon informed a congressional committee this morning that senior bank executives responsible for a $2 billion trading loss will probably have some of their pay taken back by the company. “It’s likely that there will be clawbacks,” Dimon told the Senate Banking Committee. Under bank policy, Dimon says, stock and bonuses can be recovered from executives, even for exercising bad judgment. The policy has never been invoked, he adds. The start of the hearing was delayed by demonstrators in the room who shouted about stopping foreclosures. Another demonstrator shouted, “Jamie Dimon’s a crook.” At least a dozen people were escorted from the hearing room. Dimon appeared serene during the outbursts, which lasted several minutes. At another point before the questioning began, he gave a broad smile. Dimon contended that the trading loss, disclosed May 10 in a surprise conference call with reporters and banking analysts, was meant to hedge risk to the company and to protect in case “things got really bad.” JPMorgan’s 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 autumn 2008. Read the full story from The Associated Press here.