The news of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) CEO and Chairman, Mr. Jamie Dimon testifying before Congress on losses has raised suggestions that Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) CEO will be next over the losses experienced by traders of the Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) initial public offering (IPO). JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) maintain that the losses of $2 billion realized from trades had no impact on the overall performance of the company, as it is still one of the most profitable banks on Wall Street.
On the other hand, Morgan Stanley CEO has said that his investment bank followed all the rules and regulations with respect to IPOs during the underwriting of the Facebook IPO. The question is why some investors were so lucky to escape the wrath. Some critics think Morgan Stanley exploited the regulation and laws of IPOs without actually breaking any. Other investors got information on the change in prospects with regard to Facebook revenue.
Similarly, it is also a matter of regulation that JPMorgan’s loss on trades seems insignificant despite the fact that the figure is excessively high. All this has echoed the need for the enforcement of the Dodd Frank financial reforms of 2010, something that will make sure the so called “too big to fail” companies are broken down to their main units. The law that essentially bars banks from trading for profitability purposes, will indeed restrict all trading activities to the trading unit. This is the pressure that has warranted JPMorgan chief to testify to Congress on the losses made by the bank with its trades.
As far as the losses are concerned, Morgan Stanley have a slightly different case. Their case relates to Facebook IPO, which on Friday was trading between $31 and $32 per share compared to its offer price of $38. This equates to a decline of more than $6 approximately 17% loss in a week or so. This is quite more than enough reason to warrant a testimony from the Morgan Stanley CEO, at least to clear the air as to what took place.
