JPMorgan Chase & Co said on Thursday that it suffered a trading loss of at least $2 billion from a failed hedging strategy, a surprise disclosure that hit financial stocks and the reputation of the bank and its prominent CEO, Jamie Dimon.
For a bank viewed as a strong risk manager that never reported a loss throughout the financial crisis, the errors are embarrassing, especially in light of Dimon's public criticism of the so-called Volcker rule to ban proprietary trading by big banks, and could lead to more heat from Washington on the sector.
"This puts egg on our face," Dimon said, apologizing in a hastily called conference call with stock analysts and conceded that the losses were linked to a Wall Street Journal report in April about a trader, nicknamed the 'London Whale', who, the report said, had amassed an outsized position.

Herman Melvill