Publications
Publications
- March 2016 (Revised August 2018)
- HBS Case Collection
JPMorgan Chase after the Financial Crisis: What Is the Optimal Scope of the Largest Bank in the U.S.?
By: David Collis and Ashley Hartman
Abstract
When Jamie Dimon took over as CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPMorgan Chase) in 2005, he reaffirmed the commitment to pursue a "universal bank" strategy—providing a full range of products and services to both retail and wholesale clients. Yet the merits of the universal bank had long been disputed. After 2008, the financial crisis and subsequent Great Recession damaged many global and domestic financial services firms. While the government bailed out universal banks and monoline financial institutions alike, both governments and the public clamored for action against banks they deemed "too big to fail." Regulators around the world stepped in to increase capital requirements while the U.S. government passed the Dodd-Frank bill, which improved transparency and accountability, and, with the Volcker Rule, limited banks' ability to pursue proprietary trading. In response, many financial institutions reduced their scope and reshaped their portfolios.
In this context, JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the U.S. by assets since 2011, which had successfully weathered the financial crisis in part due to the benefits of diversification, emerged with a "fortress balance sheet" and an improved position in the banking league tables. Nevertheless, the bank faced pressure from many directions, including large civil fines to settle, analysts' arguments about its "conglomerate discount," and regulation that penalized size, interconnectedness, and complexity. Despite the pressure, Jamie Dimon remained vocal in advocating for the value of a broad scope, large scale financial services firm. However, questions remained about the optimal scope of the bank and how JPMorgan Chase could best allocate resources across its diverse lines of business in the face of new regulations designed to limit size and complexity.
In this context, JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the U.S. by assets since 2011, which had successfully weathered the financial crisis in part due to the benefits of diversification, emerged with a "fortress balance sheet" and an improved position in the banking league tables. Nevertheless, the bank faced pressure from many directions, including large civil fines to settle, analysts' arguments about its "conglomerate discount," and regulation that penalized size, interconnectedness, and complexity. Despite the pressure, Jamie Dimon remained vocal in advocating for the value of a broad scope, large scale financial services firm. However, questions remained about the optimal scope of the bank and how JPMorgan Chase could best allocate resources across its diverse lines of business in the face of new regulations designed to limit size and complexity.
Keywords
Scope; Regulatory Reforms; Universal Banking; Synergy; Optimization; Simplification; Finance; Strategy; Business Strategy; Financial Crisis; Consolidation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry
Citation
Collis, David, and Ashley Hartman. "JPMorgan Chase after the Financial Crisis: What Is the Optimal Scope of the Largest Bank in the U.S.?" Harvard Business School Case 716-448, March 2016. (Revised August 2018.)