BUSINESS
May 17, 2013 | By Andrew Tangel and Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times
NEW YORK - A major shareholder vote next week has Wall Street abuzz over the power and future of Jamie Dimon, leader of the country's biggest bank. As chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co., Dimon burnished his reputation by steering the bank through the financial crisis virtually unscathed. Charismatic and articulate, Dimon emerged as Wall Street's most public face, an effective spokesman for an industry under siege by lawmakers, regulators and protesters. Now Dimon is facing a shareholder push to strip him of the chairman's job. Tuesday's vote at JPMorgan's annual shareholder meeting in Tampa, Fla., isn't binding, but it has nevertheless become a marquee referendum whose results could rattle nerves across the financial industry.
BUSINESS
April 12, 2013 | By Andrew Tangel
By next month, JPMorgan Chase & Co. will know whether shareholders want to strip the bank's star chief executive of his chairmanship. If a majority supports splitting the roles, what will Jamie Dimon do? Dimon, who holds both jobs, declined to say in a conference call with reporters early Friday. It was an issue for JPMorgan's board, he said. "You should always listen to your shareholders,” Dimon said. "The board has plenty of time to think it through. " Some major shareholders have been calling for splitting the roles, saying it is a "best practice" for corporate governance.
BUSINESS
March 26, 2013 | By Andrew Tangel
NEW YORK - Does Jamie Dimon have too much power? JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s board apparently doesn't think so. Last week, its directors decided to keep Dimon as both the bank's chairman and chief executive, even after a Senate panel's scathing report about $6 billion in trading losses incurred by the so-called “London Whale.” Their decision to keep Dimon in both posts could set the stage for a rift with some big JPMorgan shareholders who support...
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
March 20, 2013 | By Chris Megerian
The pension fund for California teachers and school employees will run out of money by 2044 if lawmakers don't take drastic action, according to a new report from the Legislative Analyst's Office. The report said problems with the pension fund, known as CalSTRS, "may be state's most difficult fiscal challenge. " The costs are massive and growing. The latest estimate pegs the fund's unfunded liability at $73 billion as of June 2012, up from $64.5 billion the year before. "This is more costly the longer we wait," said Ryan Miller of the Legislative Analyst's Office during a hearing Wednesday.
BUSINESS
March 19, 2013 | By Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times
SACRAMENTO - Three years after a major influence-peddling scandal rocked California and the nation's largest public pension fund, a federal grand jury indicted two former top officials on fraud, conspiracy and obstruction charges. The indictment, unsealed Monday in San Francisco, names as defendants Federico Buenrostro Jr. of Sacramento, a former chief executive of the California Public Employees' Retirement System, and Alfred J.R. Villalobos of Reno, Nev., a former CalPERS board member and one-time deputy Los Angeles mayor.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
March 8, 2013 | By Chris Megerian, Los Angeles Times
SACRAMENTO - California unions, accustomed to getting their way in the Capitol, lost some ground last year when Gov. Jerry Brown pushed through the Legislature a series of public-pension cuts that affect their members. Now several labor groups have gone to court in an attempt to reverse some of the cuts, forcing Brown to defend legislation he used to persuade voters that he was being frugal with their tax money. "We're just fighting for what has been promised us," said Jon Rudolph, president of the Deputy Sheriffs' Assn.