Par for the course. Though you would be right to say "you have got to be kidding," the truth is that the signal has been sent from the White House and from most of Congress that the bankers will not go to jail and they will not bear any personal cost of causing the greatest financial crisis in generations, a crisis that cost millions of people their jobs, their retirement, their dignity and their futures. And the crystal clear example, from the outset, has been Jamie Dimon. He's getting a big fat raise.
Here you go:
A year after an embarrassing trading blowup led to millions of dollars being docked from Jamie Dimon’s paycheck, the chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase is getting a raise.
JPMorgan’s board voted this week to increase Mr. Dimon’s annual compensation for 2013, hashing out the pay package after a series of meetings that turned heated at times, according to several executives briefed on the matter. The raise — the details were not made public on Thursday — follows a move by the board last year to slash Mr. Dimon’s compensation by half, to $11.5 million.
It is also true that not everyone was happy:
The debate pitted a vocal minority of directors who wanted to keep his compensation largely flat, citing the approximately $20 billion in penalties JPMorgan has paid in the last year to federal authorities, against directors who argued that Mr. Dimon should be rewarded for his stewardship of the bank during such a difficult period. During the meetings, some board members left the conference room to pace up and down the 50th-floor corridor.
But, this is the part that encapsulates the absurdity and moral bankruptcy of Dimon and the entire gang:
Mr. Dimon’s defenders point to his active role in negotiating a string of government settlements that helped JPMorgan move beyond some of its biggest legal problems. He has also solidified his support among board members, according to the people briefed on the matter, by acting as a chief negotiator as JPMorgan worked out a string of banner government settlements this year.
So, let me get this straight: the board (filled with Dimon cronies) wants to reward him for cutting deals costing the bank $20 billion (which will be paid for by shareholders and customers) FOR FUCK-UPS/ILLEGAL ACTS THAT HAPPENED UNDER HIS WATCH!!!
It's the new Dimon-get-out-of-trouble-card everywhere. "Uh, well, yes, I just drove the car in the robbery but let's make a deal to return some money AND I want a big fat raise for that as well". Or similar situations.
Funny. Farce. Utterly corrupt.