
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co, said that settling the big bank’s wide-ranging legal cases with multiple government agencies last year was “the most painful, difficult and nerve-wracking experience that I have ever dealt with professionally.”
In a 30-page annual letter to shareholders released by the company on Wednesday, Dimon made the comment as he took another step toward putting behind him the issues that cost the company more than $20 billion.
“We thought the best option, perhaps the only sensible option,” Dimon wrote, “was to acknowledge our issues and settle as much as we could all at once, albeit at a high price.”
But Dimon, 58, appeared to bite his tongue from sharing any further thoughts on how the company was targeted by prosecutors. “There is much to say and a lot to be learned in analyzing what happened, but I am not going to do so in this letter — more distance and perspective are required.”
Dimon also provided more details on the $2 billion of additional annual spending by the company to comply with new rules and regulations.