JPMorgan investment chief resigns after $2B loss

In this May 11, 2012, file photo, people stand in the lobby of JPMorgan Chase headquarters in New York. JPMorgan Chase on Monday, May 14, 2012, said its chief investment officer Ina Drew was resigning in the wake of the bank's stunning $2 billion loss on derivatives trading. AP PHOTO/MARK LENNIHAN

NEW YORK—JPMorgan Chase said Monday its chief investment officer Ina Drew was resigning in the wake of the bank’s stunning $2 billion loss on derivatives trading.

Drew is “retiring” after more than 30 years at the bank, JPMorgan said, but her departure comes days after the bank reported a huge “egregious” loss that came under her responsibility as the bank’s chief investment officer (CIO).

“Ina Drew has been a great partner over her many years with our firm,” chief executive and chairman Jamie Dimon said in a statement.

“Despite our recent losses in the CIO, Ina’s vast contributions to our company should not be overshadowed by these events,” Dimon said.

No mention was made in the statement of any of the other CIO officials reportedly involved in the loss.

The Wall Street Journal said two other high-ranking executives were set to leave this week: Achilles Macris, who heads the London-based desk that placed the trades, and trader Javier Martin-Artajo, a managing director on Macris’s team.

Attention has also focused on the role of a London-based JPMorgan trader, French-born Bruno Michel Iksil, nicknamed “The London Whale” and “Voldemort,” after the villain in the Harry Potter books.

Drew had repeatedly tendered her resignation since the extent of the loss became apparent in late April, but Dimon had refused to accept it until now, according to the reports.

She will be replaced by Matt Zames, currently head of JPMorgan’s global fixed-income unit.