JP Morgan Chase CEO, James Dimon will reportedly receive a pay package of $27 million in 2015, which is up by $7 million or 35% from 2014 compensation. The higher package was announced right after the bank revealed its highest annual profits last week, which is mainly attributable to the cost-cutting initiative undertaken to boost the frozen revenue growth.
MarketWatch reports that the most-watched chief executive received $20.5 million in restricted stock and $5 million in cash, along with his base compensation of $1.5 million. Last year, his pay package had included $11.1 million in stock and $7.4 million in cash with the salary component remaining unchanged at $1.5 million. However, at the last year's shareholders meeting, Dimon's salary has garnered a lot of negative comments, the main factor being the CEO's salary not being tied to performance. Following the outburst, this year his compensation structure has a larger portion in stock grants that are tied to a three-year performance metrics - a step taken mainly as a response to the criticisms.
As per Nasdaq reports, James Dimon has always been under close scrutiny not only because JP Morgan is the biggest bank of the nation, but also the fact that he had managed to negate a loss of $30 million in 2007 and took a high-profile pay-cut in 2012 following the 'London whale' fiasco. He was compensated for this loss the very next year when the board raised his pay by 74% which then reached $20 million.
2015 has been a tough year for the banks but 2016 is proving to be no better, with higher energy loans leading to higher costs. USA Today states that the bank CEOs are about to face the consequences in the form of pay cuts. JP Morgan has already laid off around 3% of its staff in 2015, which is roughly around 6761 jobs. New York branch thus saw a 1% fall in compensation costs.
Following the hue and cry regarding the CEO's compensation, proxy advisory firm ISS had glibly stated that "JPMorgan is now one of the few, if not the only, large financial institution that does not tie any element of CEO pay to achievement of goals for a specific metric or metrics."
However, other firms like Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass Lewis & Co. had raised their voices against this system. They demanded an explanation as to why the board still does not have any criteria in place which ties JP Morgan's senior executive pay packages directly with their performances like any other employee.
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