Finance

JPMorgan investment bank creates new role overseeing junior bankers

Published

3 months ago

September 18, 2024

JPMorgan Chase CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon gestures as he speaks during the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee oversight hearing on Wall Street firms, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 6, 2023.

Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

JPMorgan Chase has created a new global role overseeing all junior bankers in an effort to better manage their workload after the death of a Bank of America associate in May forced Wall Street to examine how it treats its youngest employees.

The firm named Ryland McClendon its global investment banking associate and analyst leader in a memo sent this month, CNBC has learned.

Associates and analysts are on the two lowest rungs in Wall Street’s hierarchy for investment banking and trading; recent college graduates flock to the roles for the high pay and opportunities they can provide.

The memo specifically stated that McClendon, a 14-year JPMorgan veteran and former banker who was previously head of talent and career development, would support the “well-being and success” of junior bankers.

The move shows how JPMorgan, the biggest American investment bank by revenue, is responding to the latest untimely death on Wall Street. In May, Bank of America’s Leo Lukenas III died after reportedly working 100-hour weeks on a bank merger. Later that month, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said his bank was examining what it could learn from the tragedy.

Then, starting in August, JPMorgan’s senior managers instructed their investment banking teams that junior bankers should typically work no more than 80 hours, part of a renewed focus to track their workload, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Exceptions can be made for live deals, said the person, who declined to be identified speaking about the internal policy.

Dimon’s warning

Dimon railed against some of Wall Street’s ingrained practices in a financial conference held Tuesday at Georgetown University. Some of the hours worked by junior bankers are just a function of inefficiency or tradition, rather than need, he indicated.

“A lot of investment bankers, they’ve been traveling all week, they come home and they give you four assignments, and you’ve got to work all weekend,” Dimon said. “It’s just not right.”

Senior bankers would be held accountable if their analysts and associates routinely tripped over the policy, he said.

“You’re violating it,” Dimon warned. “You’ve got to stop, and it will be in your bonus, so that people know we actually mean it.”

Finance

Treasury delays deadline for small businesses to file new BOI form

Published

12 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Business Finance News

Janet Yellen, U.S. Treasury secretary, on a tour of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in Vienna, Virginia, on Jan. 8, 2024.

Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The U.S. Treasury Department has delayed the deadline for millions of small businesses to Jan. 13, 2025, to file a new form, known as a Beneficial Ownership Information report.

The Treasury had initially required many businesses to file the report to the agency’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCEN, by Jan. 1. Noncompliance carries potential fines that could exceed $10,000.

This delay comes as a result of legal challenges to the new reporting requirement under the Corporate Transparency Act.

The rule applies to about 32.6 million businesses, including certain corporations, limited liability companies and others, according to federal estimates.

Businesses and owners that didn’t comply would potentially face civil penalties of up to $591 a day, adjusted for inflation, according to FinCEN. They could also face up to $10,000 in criminal fines and up to two years in prison.

However, many small businesses are exempt. For example, those with over $5 million in gross sales and more than 20 full-time employees may not need to file a report.

Why Treasury delayed the BOI reporting requirement

The Treasury delayed the compliance deadline following a recent court ruling.

A federal court in Texas on Dec. 3 had issued a nationwide preliminary injunction that temporarily blocked FinCEN from enforcing the rule. However, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that injunction on Monday.

CNBC Small Business Survey finds confidence rising among small businesses

“Because the Department of the Treasury recognizes that reporting companies may need additional time to comply given the period when the preliminary injunction had been in effect, we have extended the reporting deadline,” according to the FinCEN website.

FinCEN didn’t return a request from CNBC for comment about the number of businesses that have filed a BOI report to date.

Some data, however, suggests few have done so.

The federal government had received about 9.5 million filings as of Dec. 1, according to statistics that FinCEN provided to the office of Rep. French Hill, R-Ark. That figure is about 30% of the estimated total.

Hill has called for the repeal of the Corporate Transparency Act, passed in 2021, which created the BOI requirement. Hill’s office provided the data to CNBC.

“Most non-exempt reporting companies have not filed their initial reports, presumably because they are unaware of the requirement,” Daniel Stipano, a partner at law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, wrote in an e-mail.

There’s a potential silver lining for businesses: It’s “unlikely” FinCEN would impose financial penalties “except in cases of bad faith or intentional violations,” Stipano said.

“In its public statements, FinCEN has made clear that its primary goal at this point is to educate the public about the requirement, as opposed to taking enforcement actions against noncompliant companies,” he said.

Certain businesses are exempt from BOI filing

The BOI filing isn’t an annual requirement. Businesses only need to resubmit the form to update or correct information.

Many exempt businesses — such as large companies, banks, credit unions, tax-exempt entities and public utilities — already furnish similar data.

Businesses have different compliance deadlines depending on when they were formed.

For example, those created or registered before 2024 have until Jan. 13, 2025, to file their initial BOI reports, according to FinCEN. Those that do so on or after Jan. 1, 2025, have 30 days to file a report.

There will likely be additional court rulings that could impact reporting, Stipano said.

For one, litigation is ongoing in the 5th Circuit, which hasn’t formally ruled on the constitutionality of the Corporate Transparency Act.

“Judicial actions challenging the law have been brought in multiple jurisdictions, and these actions may eventually reach the Supreme Court,” he wrote. “As of now, it is unclear whether the incoming Trump administration will continue to support the Government’s position in these cases.”