US media, citing company executives, reported on Sunday that the bank's chief executive Jamie Dimon was set to accept as early as Monday the resignation of Ina Drew, a 55-year-old chief investment officer, who has worked at the firm for three decades.
The reports came as Dimon admitted that the stunning loss had jeopardised the bank's credibility and given regulators a fresh opportunity to target Wall Street.
The Wall Street Journal said two other high-ranking executives were set to leave during the 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.
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.
London-based trader Bruno Michel Iksil, nicknamed "The London Whale" for the large positions he took in credit markets, is also likely to leave though it remains uncertain when he will do so, the Journal said.
Dimon told American network NBC's "Meet the Press" programme that the big loss incurred by the New York-based bank, which triggered a slide in banking shares on Friday, was "stupid" and damaging, but not bad enough to stop the company from making a profit this quarter.
'Casino gambling industry'
The Wall Street boss has led US banks in fighting the proposed Volcker Rule, which would ban so-called proprietary trading, when banks trade on their own accounts. Banks are also resisting curbs on their hedging activities.
Asked if JPMorgan's losses had given regulators new ammunition to clamp down on Wall Street after the US government spent billions to bail out financial institutions during the 2008 crisis, Dimon replied: "Yes, absolutely. This is a very unfortunate and inopportune time to have had this kind of mistake."
Martin Hennecke, associate director at Hong Kong-based financial advisory firm Tyche Group, told Al Jazeera that JP Morgan's loss is another indictment of the US banking system.
"We are particularly not fond of the US banking industry, which is like a casino gambling industry, especially since the Glass-Steagall Act was repudiated," he said.
"The Glass-Steagall Act needs to be implemented again, otherwise it seems the banks pretty much do what they want.
"If they mess it up they get a bailout and if they do it right they don't care about what limits were broken, and so they would all be heroes and get huge payouts and bonuses."
Hennecke said: "So, we don't think the US banking industry is safe or stable to invest in. The much chastised Chinese banks that everybody loves to hate are much safer to invest in than banks in the US and Europe as well for that matter."
Big humiliation
Dimon denied that the company's hedging scheme - designed to lower investment risk, but which instead spectacularly backfired - had placed its future in doubt.continue Reading
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