Pressure rises on investment firm JPMorgan over risk, clawbacks

Tampa, Florida: Shareholders in JPMorgan Chase & Co yesterday rejected a proposal calling on the company to split the roles of chairman and chief executive, a victory for incumbent Jamie Dimon.

The proposal received some 40.1 per cent of votes cast in favour, the company said at the end of its annual meeting.

Shareholders of JPMorgan Chase & Co gathered in the hundreds yesterday for its annual meeting, as pressure rises on the bank and Chief Executive Jamie Dimon over billions of dollars in trading losses.

Even as the meeting kicked off, some shareholders were already calling for Dimon to claw back compensation from the executives responsible for the losses.

Meanwhile, current and former government officials piled on what they called the bank's failure to manage its risks. The meeting, at a bank back-office complex in Tampa, Florida, will give investors their first crack at Dimon, who is also JPMorgan's chairman, since he revealed a soured hedging strategy had resulted in trading losses of at least $2 billion (Dh7.34 billion).

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said JPMorgan's losses strengthened the case for reform.