JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s History and Physical Strength

Overview

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is one of the conventional financial services corporations in the world. According to Barr (2007), the firm has the highest assets of $2.3 trillion in the banking services and wide market segmentation in the U.S; thus, it is among the leading banks in asset banking, monetary services for clients, small industry and commercial banking, monetary transaction processing and private equity. JPMC operates in more than 60 countries; it is built on the foundation of more than 1,000 predecessor institutions (JPMorgan Chase & Co., 2008). Therefore, the success of this firm is attributed to its historical operations and product positioning in various markets including mergers, acquisitions and a strong operating base.

History

As America expanded and developed in the 1800s, various new financial firms were formed. JPMC is among the banks that have historic links with these early firms including The Western Reserve Bank – 1812 and Second State Bank – 1834. The present JPMC is a result of collaborations of various U.S banking firms over the recent year; Chase Manhattan Bank, JPMorgan & Co., Bear Steams, Washington Mutual and Bank One Corp. According to Global Oneness the Chemical Bank, Manufacturers Hanover and Detroit National Bank are among the early banks that constituted the JPMC.

Chemical Banking Corporation: This Corporation was founded in 1823 as a result of the banking needs of New York manufacturing firms dealing with chemicals. Global Oneness explains that this bank grew through a sequence of unions in 1851 with Corn Exchange and Hanover Trust Company. Thus, it was deemed as the major bank in the US during that time. In 1996, the company obtained the Chase Manhattan Corporation but maintained that name (Fortune Magazine, 2008). After the incorporation of J.P. Morgan & Co. in their structure during the year 2000, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPMC) came into existence.

Chase Manhattan Bank: This firm was founded in 1931 after the Bank of Manhattan acquired the Chase national Bank – 1877. The founder of the bank of Manhattan was Aaron Burr who made significant efforts to the transformation of the company into a national bank. As explained in the previous paragraph, this Bank was purchased by the Chemical Bank in 1996 but its name was retained, therefore becoming a component of JPMorgan Chase & Company.

J.P.Morgan & Company: The other namesake predecessor of JPMorgan Chase is the J.P.Morgan & Co. which was invented in N.Y in 1871 as Drexel, Morgan & Co. by J.P Morgan (JPMorgan Chase & Co., 2008). After selling the Railroad stock in 1879 without lowering the share price, the company made a big step as a commercial institution, hence becoming a major financer in the Railroad. In the 1990s, when the firm was purchased by Chase Manhattan, J.P Morgan evolved as an investment bank that incorporates private banking and equity services.

Key Mergers and Acquisitions

The integration of various banking investments has enabled the JPMC to strengthen its financial services with major key business segments including asset and wealth management. According to JPMorgan Chase & Co. (2008), the main key mergers that aligned the firm included the following: 1. In 1991, the name Chemical Banking Corp was a result of the collaboration between the Chemical Banking Corp and Manufactures Hanover Corp. 2. In 1995, the Midwest largest banking institution, First Chicago NBD Corp, was as a result of a combined effort between First Chicago Corp. and NBD Bancorp Inc. 3.

In 1996, Chase Manhattan and Chemical Banking Corp collaborated to form Chase Manhattan Corp. 4. Bank One was the largest bank and biggest Visa credit issuer in 1998 as a result of a merger between Banc One Corp and First Chicago NBD Corp. 5. In 2000 the JPMorgan Chase & Co. was developed as a result of unions among the contemporary banking institutions including Morgan Chase, Hanover Manufactures and the Chase Manhattan Corp. 6. In 2004, JPMC merged with Bank One Corp to make a strong business with customer banking strengths. 7. In 2008, JPMorgan Chase was able to obtain The Bear Stearns Companies Inc., thus widening its business focus including brokerage, money transfer and energy business.

In 2006 the bank swapped its company trust unit for the New York Bank which enabled it to access 338 extra branches and thousands of new customers in N.Y and Indiana operations. According to Fortune Magazine (2008), JPMC obtained the ClimateCare carbon counteracting firm.

Physical Strength

JPMC is among the foremost worldwide banking companies with businesses in more than 60 countries and more than 200,000 employees. Its strategic headquarters is in New York City. According to JPMorgan Chase & Co. website, the workforce distribution in the U.S is as follows (2008): white (60.1%), Black/African American (17.8%), Hispanic/Latino (12.3%), Asian (9.0%), American Indian/Alaska Native (0.3%), Native Hawaiian (0.1%) and two or more races (0.4%). Thus, James Dimon, the executive chairman of JPMC asserts that the bank serves millions of customers in the U.S and several global famous businesses, institutional and government clients

In the U.S, the bank possesses five subsidiary banks whose brand name is JPMorgan Chase & Co. These bank auxiliaries include the Chase Bank USA, National Association also known as Chase Manhattan Bank which enjoys the Chicago headquarters. Secondly, JPMC Bank, National Association which is a state commercial bank headquartered in Polaris Pkwy, Columbus and has an estimate of 1, 800 employees at the location (Dun and Bradstreet, Inc., 2009). The third bank is the JPMC Bank, which has the main office in Dearborn, Michigan.

JPMC owns its fourth subsidiary in Los Angeles which is known as J.P. Morgan Trust Company, National Association and provides banking services. The fifth branch is the Custodial Trust Company situated in Princeton, New Jersey. And thus, provides refined custodial and securities clearances services to prominent corporate investors.

The immensity of North American functions is performed in four buildings which are close to each other within Park Avenue, NYC; these buildings are located at 270 Park Avenue, 277 Park Avenue, 25 Park Avenue and 345 Park Avenue. Other offices are based in Bear Stearns House. According to Global Oneness an estimated 10,000 employees are situated at McCoy Center. There are other branches in London, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore. In 2008, plans were underway to build new European Offices, located at Canary Wharf.

In light of this, the history of JPMC inline with the various mergers explained in the previous paragraphs has enabled the bank to be among the world’s most dominant banking institutions. This implies that it has management positions in wholesale and retail banking; the bank has many employees (over 200,000) globally, operating in many countries and more than $1.3 trillion assets (JPMorgan Chase & Co., 2008).

For instance, in Australia, the Ord Minnet’s more than 1,300 employees are situated in the financial centers of Melbourne and Sydney and offer services to businesses and government clients. In 2008, JPMC bank expanded its global branch network by launching the New Zealand branch in Auckland.

References

1. Barr, A. (2007). J.P. Morgan is largest U.S. hedge-fund firm. Web.
2. Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. (2009). JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association. 
3. Fortune Magazine (2008). J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.Annual Ranking of America’s Largest Corporations. 
4. Global Oneness. JPMorgan Chase & Co. – History. 
5. J.P Morgan Chase & Co. (2008). The History of JPMorgan Chase & Co. 200 Years of Leadership in Banking.
6. JPMorgan Chase & Co. Strengthening Communities.