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The JP Morgan Chase investment debacle
by Joe Bialek
May 29, 2012

This letter is in response to the articles covering the JP Morgan Chase investment debacle.
Well Mr. Dimon, it looks like you and your company have landed in the rough. This is because of the same type of stupidity and hubris that helped to cause the Great Recession is now déjà vu all over again. Now what? Layoffs? Did someone say layoffs? Sir, I've worked in the finance industry for the better part of 16 years and have never witnessed such a reckless disregard for the investor's money as this.

In my opinion this boarders on criminal and should be {as it is} investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission. As I often do I took the courtesy of CC-ing you on this letter out of fairness and the opportunity for rebuttal. I do not fear reprisal nor expect a response. This letter is being written on behalf of the numerous friends I have that work for your company in Cleveland, Ohio. The moment this fiasco became public was the same moment that struck panic into the minds of your employees. Only four years ago and here we go again down the slippery slope of financial catastrophe that always results in employee cutbacks so that you can save your bottom line. I've had numerous opportunities to come and work for your company but have acquiesced every time because of the reputation your company has when it comes to the treatment of it's employees. From severe micromanaging to mandatory 16 hours of overtime per week {making for essentially a 7-day week} you are operating on a very short-term get-rich-quick scheme that ultimately will spell trouble for those you have to layoff because of your blunder.

I've witnessed this first-hand myself when I was employed by a mortgage company {as a underwriter} that is now at the bottom of the financial ocean because of it's own zealous behavior to milk the cash cow for all it could before getting off scot free and leaving the rest of the country to deal with the mess. Yes, I did earn a good paycheck while that company profited tremendously but when it became painfully obvious we were headed for financial disaster I was the ONLY one who spoke up but was met by a gag order for "making inappropriate comments".

The corruption became so rampant there that sales representatives regularly offered bribes to underwriters "to make sure all went well". As a credit officer of the company I should have filed a Suspicious Activity Report {as well as contacted the FBI} but was dissuaded by the fact that many people would lose their jobs all because of the actions of a corrupt few the list of which went from sales managers, underwriters, sales representatives all the way to the owners themselves. What a pity their investors had to be made aware of where the "bodies were buried" which ultimately crippled their ability to outrun the amount of loans they were forced to buy back from Wall Street. It was similar to the crippling of the Bismarck's steering gear and jammed rudders making the company a sitting duck for anyone wishing to come forward and testify to the truth. Needless to say the company went down faster than the Titanic.

Mr. Dimon, one cannot help but ask the question: How much is enough? And at what cost must others be forced to pay so long as you aren’t earning enough? Why do you continually work to thwart the Dodd-Frank Act and specifically the Volker Rule? Is life just a short-term existence in a pleasure paradise for you or is there any measure of a human in you to be concerned for those who work "to bring home your bacon?" Please realize the long-term implications of your boner and refrain from making any further financial "miscalculations" such as this. Yes, the whole world is watching sir. You can bet on that.