JP Morgan announces new heads post-merger

JP Morgan has appointed five Bear Stearns executives to top positions, in its first senior management restructuring since it rescued the rival bank.

The changes were announced in a memo dated April 4 and signed by Steve Black and Bill Winters, co-chief executives of JP Morgan’s investment bank. The New York-based bank’s changes did not, however, include all senior management at the merged group, but only affected the leadership structure in the investment bank management committee.

“We recognise this announcement does not include everyone in senior management – it aims only to cover the investment bank management committee and our direct reports going forward. There are still ongoing discussions with other key leaders on their roles, and more announcements from us will be following shortly once final decisions are made,” the memo said.

The Bear Stearns executives that have been offered top jobs at the merged group are Jeff Urwin, Jeff Mayer, Craig Overlander, Mike Nierenberg, and Peter Cherasia.

Urwin has been appointed head of investment banking coverage, and will be reporting to Doug Braunstein, who is the new head of investment banking and origination in the Americas. Urwin was previously a co-head of Bear Stearns’ global banking division.

Mayer, who was an executive vice-president and senior managing director at Bear Stearns, becomes the merged group’s vice-chairman in charge of the global markets business in the investment banking division.

Overlander is the new vice-chairman in charge of investor clients, and was previously Bear Stearns’ senior managing director and co-head of fixed income.

All three will report directly to the two CEOs.

Nierenberg joins Bill King as co-head of the global securitisation business and Cherasia, who was the head of electronic commerce at Bear Stearns, is the new head of global technology, operations and real estate. They will also be reporting to the CEOs.

The bank also announced 21 other appointments from within JP Morgan, including Don McCree as the new executive vice-president for treasury, corporate finance, and corporate mergers and acquisitions, reporting to Mike Cavanagh, and Mike Ashworth as the head of global technology infrastructure, reporting to Guy Chiarello, the global head of credit.

Other key appointments include John Hogan as the new chief risk officer, with Brian Sankey as his deputy. Sankey is also the new head of global credit risk. Paul Compton is the new chief financial officer and head of global finance and business management. Carlos Hernandez has been appointed head of global equities, including prime brokerage, global clearing, and futures and options. The new head of global research is Nick O'Donohoe.

The memo said Black and Waters had worked closely with Alan Schwartz, Bear Stearns' CEO before the merger, in making these changes, although Schwartz’s new position has not been announced yet. The bank also made structural changes to the organisation, and the various management teams are expected to send out announcements clarifying their new structures by mid-April. JP Morgan merged with New York-based Bear Stearns on March 16 this year.

See also: Fed bails out Bear Stearns
JP Morgan buys Bear Stearns after receiving Fed guarantee
Cayne bows out of Bear Stearns