Dimon Screwed Up, Got a Raise Anyway!

I apparently misunderstand the theory of the free market. I thought that successful performance was to be rewarded. And that disastrous or failing performance was to be penalized. But I am mistaken. For Jamie Dimon, failure is not failure, disaster is not disaster, life is good all the time – great job if you can get one!

Business ethics!! Do you reward constant business ethics violations? If you count settling multiple regulatory settlements in the billions of dollars as business ethics violations which apparently JPMorgan’s board does not, it might make you uncomfortable. Apparently in the mind of JPMorgan, business ethics is a matter of opinion, right?

Once again, I have another negative example to show my students. Instead of virtue being rewarded I have an example of rampant misconduct involving incredible amounts of money being rewarded. It makes my job more difficult.

But it’s not just me. Everyone who values justice, everyone who believes in right and wrong, everyone who believes in the value of business ethics, is being slapped in the face by this decision.

It is a blatant reward for misconduct and incompetence. It’s wrong. It’s destructive. It’s the wrong example for every human being on this planet.

Do we live in such a morally bankrupt system that not only do we have to suffer massive financial lawbreaking but watch it being rewarded too?

James Pilant

Jamie Dimon gets raise despite JPMorgan’s massive regulatory fines – Salon.com

JPMorgan Chase’s “punishment” was short lived. Last year, following the egregious “London Whale” scandal — a multibillion trading loss by the bank (which led to $1 billion in regulatory fines) — Dimon’s salary was cut in half to a measley $11.5 million.Wall Street memories are evidently as short as its pockets are deep. Dimon is getting a raise again. The New York Times reported:

JPMorgan’s board voted this week to increase Mr. Dimon’s annual compensation for 2013, hashing out the pay package after a series of meetings that turned heated at times, according to several executives briefed on the matter.

… JPMorgan’s directors may have decided that Mr. Dimon, as his peers may, should get a raise, but to ordinary Americans — and possibly to regulators — the decision to increase his compensation may seem curious given the banner penalties that federal authorities have extracted from the bank. It is not unheard-of for chief executives to lose their jobs when their companies have been battered by regulators.

via Jamie Dimon gets raise despite JPMorgan’s massive regulatory fines – Salon.com.