[ by Melanie Gretchen ]

JPMorgan Chase has completed an internal investigation into the trading losses incurred by Bruno Iksil, aka the "London Whale," who was a trader in the bank's London-based CIO, or Central Investment Office.  The bank's internal findings reportedly are quite critical of JPM senior management - and that would include CEO Jamie Dimon.  The firm's investigation is separate and apart from an investigation conducted by U.S. regulators - the Federal Reserve and the OCC. 

On Tuesday, the bank's Board of Directors will meet to discuss whether to make public the findings in the report.  British regulators have asked that JPMorgan not release the report because investigations are still in progress in the U.K. 

By now, it's common knowledge that JPMorgan lost $6.2 billion winding down the positions that Iksil accumulated - supposedly without senior management's knowledge or oversight.  When Jamie Dimon first announced the unauthorized trades, he minimized the impact of any trading losses upon the bank, saying that losses would not exceed $2 billion.  Yet, over time the losses mounted as positions were unwound.  Numerous employees were subsequently terminated and several serious internal control lapses were revealed. 

Throughout throughout the discovery and investigation process, Mr. Dimon declined to share any significant information with the public, creating the appearance that Mr. Dimon and his management team might have been withholding self-incriminating information.  That has never been established, although it might be contained in the firm's report on findings. 

The Report.   The report, which stemmed from a preliminary analysis released in July, criticizes Mr. Dimon, former CFO Doug Braunstein, and ex-Central Investment Office head Ina Drew for inadequately supervising traders in the U.K. unit.  Tomorrow, the board will vote on whether to disclose it when the bank announces fourth-quarter results the following day.

[C-I Note: It will be interesting to see if the Board releases the report.  With the contents of the report under wraps, a decision to release the bank's findings could either serve to restore or to further erode investor confidence in the bank and its leader, Jamie Dimon.  The Street will be watching closely.]

For further details, go to:  [Bloomberg, 1/14/13].

For a report on the sanctions levied against JPMorgan Chase by the Federal Reserve, go to:  ["JPMorgan & London Whale: Regulatory Sanctions", posted on 1/14/13 in What Went Wrong].