By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: February 26, 2024 ~
According to Form 4 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by corporate insiders, ten of the key executives at the largest bank in the United States, JPMorgan Chase, have dumped more than $150 million in common stock in the bank this year. The sales come as the bank’s stock has been hitting all time highs while the scandals at the bank are also hitting unprecedented levels.
The largest seller by far was the Chairman and CEO of the bank, Jamie Dimon. According to his Form 4, on February 22 of this year, Dimon sold 737,420 shares of the bank’s common stock for $135 million.
The newly promoted Troy Rohrbaugh, who is now Co-CEO of JPMorgan Chase’s Commercial and Investment Bank (CIB), sold 75,000 shares on February 22 of this year for $13.7 million.
Stacey Friedman, General Counsel at the bank, sold 6,030 shares on February 22 for $1.1 million.
Peter Scher, Vice Chairman, sold 1,812 shares on January 16 and another 1,810 shares on February 16 of this year for proceeds of approximately $626,000.
Jennifer Piepszak, Co-CEO, Commercial and Investment Bank (CIB), on February 16, 2024, sold 1,648 shares for $295,000. Piepszak has been selling large chunks of the bank’s stock since 2019.
Marianne Lake, CEO of the Consumer and Community Bank (CCB), on Feb 16 sold 4,459 shares for $798,000.
Ashley Bacon, Chief Risk Officer (at a bank that is ranked by its regulators as the riskiest bank in the U.S.) sold 3,368 shares on February 16 of this year for approximately $602,856. Bacon has been selling large chunks of JPMorgan Chase stock since 2013.
Mary Erdoes, who has been implicated in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking scandal at the bank, but remains CEO of the Asset & Wealth Management unit, on January 16, 2024 sold 4,814 shares for $861,664. Erdoes has also been selling large chunks of JPMorgan Chase’s stock since 2010. This is how the New York Times reported Erdoes’ role with Epstein in August 2019:
“When compliance officers at JPMorgan Chase conducted a sweep of their wealthy clients a decade ago, they recommended that the bank cut its ties to the financier Jeffrey E. Epstein because his accounts posed unacceptable legal and reputational risks.
“Yet Mr. Epstein, who had been charged with sex crimes and pleaded guilty in 2008 to solicitation of prostitution, remained a JPMorgan client until 2013.
“The main reason, according to six former senior executives and other bank employees familiar with the matter, was that Mary C. Erdoes, one of JPMorgan’s highest-ranking executives, intervened to keep him as a client.”
Other key executives at JPMorgan Chase selling the bank’s stock this year include:
Lori Beer, Chief Information Officer, sold 3,920 shares for $716,000.
Doug Petno, previously the head of the commercial bank, but now reporting to Piepszak and Rohrbaugh, sold 3,267 shares of common stock in January and another 3,266 shares this month for a combined $1.1 million.
It does not appear that Daniel Pinto, JPMorgan’s president and chief operating officer, has sold stock yet this year. However, Pinto has been selling large blocks of JPMorgan Chase stock since 2013. For example, on May 11, 2023, Pinto sold 113,640 shares of the bank’s common stock for proceeds of $15.4 million.
In most cases, when an insider executes a transaction, he or she must file a Form 4 with the SEC within two business days following the transaction date. Transactions in a company’s common stock as well as derivative securities, such as options, warrants, and convertible securities, are reported on the Form 4. We will watch to see if other key executives report sales and if Dimon increases his sale of common stock. Dimon initially reported that he would be selling 1 million shares of his stock.
Correction: The paragraph describing sales by Peter Scher has been updated to include both his common stock sales in January and February of this year.
