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JPMorgan has confirmed that it is discussing potential successors to current CEO Jamie Dimon. According to a proxy statement released on Monday, the bank’s board “is spending significant time on developing operating committee members who are well known to shareholders as strong potential CEO candidates”.
Dimon, a highly influential figure in American business, has led JPMorgan for over 18 years, but speculation about his departure has been growing. During an investor event last May, Dimon said he could depart within three-and-a-half years. The bank’s board confirmed they are planning for an “orderly CEO transition in the medium term”, according to the statement.
Potential successors named in the statement include Jennifer Piepszak and Troy Rohrbaugh, recently appointed co-CEOs of JPMorgan’s commercial and investment bank, Marianne Lake, CEO of consumer and community banking, and Mary Erdoes, CEO of asset and wealth management.
While Dimon’s departure timeline remains uncertain, analysts and investors suggest it could happen within the next few years, with Daniel Pinto, JPMorgan’s president and chief operating officer, seen as a potential interim CEO if needed.
Last year, billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman expressed support for a hypothetical presidential run by Jamie Dimon. When questioned by Bloomberg News about the possibility of entering politics, the 68-year-old Dimon remarked, “maybe one day I’ll serve my country in one capacity or another”.
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HSBC announced today its decision to sell its operations in Argentina, incurring a $1bn loss in the process, as part of its ongoing efforts to streamline its global operations and refocus on its Asian markets.
The London-headquartered lender disclosed that it would be selling its Argentine business, covering banking, asset management and insurance, to Argentina’s Grupo Financiero Galicia for $550mn.
Noel Quinn, CEO of HSBC, said in a statement that the sale “enables us to focus our resources on higher value opportunities across our international network”.
“HSBC Argentina is largely a domestically focused business, with limited connectivity to the rest of our international network,” he added.
In addition to registering a $1bn loss in the first quarter of 2024, HSBC said the deal would prompt the recognition of $4.9bn in historical currency translation reserve losses when the sale closes. The bank noted that these losses grew by $1.8bn last year due to the devaluation of the Argentine peso.
The bank’s exit from Argentina follows the completion of sales of its Canada unit and its French retail banking business. Last year, during an interview with Reuters, HSBC’s chief financial officer, Georges Elhedery, revealed that the bank was considering selling or reducing its operations in 12 countries, although he refrained from specifying which ones.
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West Virginia, a major US energy-producing state, has added Citi, HSBC, TD Bank and Northern Trust to a list of financial institutions that may be barred from some state business because the state’s treasurer deems they are boycotting the fossil fuel industry.
The office of state treasurer Riley Moore said the list consists of companies that have “publicly stated they will refuse, terminate, or limit doing business with coal, oil, or natural gas companies without a reasonable business purpose”.
Moore’s “Restricted Financial Institutions” list, created in 2002, also includes BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo.
In comments emailed to journalists, an HSBC spokesperson stated: “We seek to work with — not boycott — energy companies”.
“Our policies anticipate that we will continue to provide corporate lending and capital markets transaction support to energy-based customers to both maintain supplies as well as support an orderly and just transition that helps with the creation of new jobs,” the spokesperson added.
A Northern Trust spokesperson said in a statement that the asset manager “does not restrict or prohibit investment in fossil fuel-based energy companies”, noting that the institution has around $52bn in investment exposure to the traditional energy sector as of February 2024.
The addition of the four financial institutions to Moore’s list is the latest development in a growing Republican-led backlash against corporate environmental, social and governance practices.
In January, Texas attorney-general Ken Paxton intervened to prevent Barclays from underwriting state municipal bonds because of the bank’s declared carbon emission commitments.
Meanwhile, the state of Mississippi last month announced its intention to impose hefty fines on BlackRock for allegedly making false and misleading statements about its role in influencing portfolio companies towards ESG considerations.
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UBS is in discussions to secure full ownership of its China-based securities business through a unique exchange deal with a Beijing government investment fund, as reported by Bloomberg citing anonymous sources.
According to Bloomberg’s sources, the proposed transaction involves UBS acquiring the remaining 33 per cent stake in UBS Securities from Beijing State-Owned Assets Management, while divesting its entire 51 per cent position in Credit Suisse Securities China in return.
UBS put Credit Suisse’s Chinese securities business up for sale after gaining control of its Swiss rival following its collapse last year. Since UBS already possesses a securities unit in mainland China, it cannot hold two licences.
Bloomberg’s sources said that UBS is engaging in talks with its state-owned shareholder to swap shares while continuing to negotiate a possible sale with Citadel Securities, which submitted a bid of around Rmb2bn ($276.5mn) for Credit Suisse’s business in December.
