JPMorgan Chase & Co.

One of the oldest financial firms in the world, JPMorgan Chase and Co. originated as New York Chemical Manufacturing Company, which was established in 1823. The next year, it became involved in banking services and began the Chemical Bank of New York. It functioned as an independent organization from 1851 onward. The company developed significantly through successive mergers with other financial institutions and banks. There were unions with Corn Exchange Bank and Texas Commerce Bank 1954 and 1986, respectively. The Chemical Bank joined with Manufacturer's Hanover Trust Company in 1991 to become the second largest bank in the United States. Another legacy of the Chemical Bank was First Chicago Corporation, which had merged with National Bank of Detroit.

The most significant merger took place in 1996, when the Chemical Bank acquired Chase Manhattan Corporation to form the largest American banking company of that period. After four years, there was further acquisition, when J. P. Morgan and Co. joined to form JPMorgan Chase & Co. The company grew again in July 2004 after a merger with Bank One Corporation. Jamie Dimon became the new president of the company and continued as the chief executive officer (CEO) from January 2006 onward.

With a penchant for acquisitions since its inception, the company took over Collegiate Funding Services, LLC in 2006. Exchanging corporate trust units with the Bank of New York facilitated JPMorgan Chase's expansion with 338 additional branches and 700,000 customers in New York, New Jersey, and Indiana from April 2006. In March 2008, the company obtained the British offsetting company, Climate Care. In 2008, the company acquired a 39.5 percent stake in Bear Stearns, and the banking operations of Washington Mutual for $1.9 billion.

From its corporate headquarters in New York City, JPMorgan Chase operates in 60 countries and has 180,667 employees. Its American consumer services, commercial banking, and retail financial services are headquartered in Chicago. JPMorgan Chase's services include investment banking, financial transaction processing, security and treasury services, private banking, and asset management for individual customers, small business enterprises, corporations, and government institutions. It provides credit card services, housing loans, insurance, automobile finance, and educational loans to its American clients. JPMorgan Chase is the third-largest banking institution in the United States, preceded by Bank of America and Citigroup. Listed on the NYSE as JPM, the company boasted $2.18 trillion in assets of year-end 2008 and for fiscal year 2008, posted net income of $5.6 billion on revenue of $67.3 billion. In the United States, JPMorgan Chase possesses the largest hedge fund with $34 billion in assets. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, its net income in 2007 and first-quarter 2008 were $14.4 billion and $2.4 billion, respectively.

JPMorgan Chase has faced criticism and legal problems in some of its operations. Its dealings with the troubled Bear Stearns investment firm were not above suspicion. In March 2008, it, along with subsidiary J.P. Morgan Securities, Inc., faced a legal suit by the firm Girard Gibbs LLP. It was charged with violating the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by misleading clients between March 2003 and February 2008 over auction rate securities. The company's stock advisors faced allegations over loss of investments by the University of California and previous Enron employees.

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