Blythe Masters Appointed to Regulatory Affairs In Addition To Rolling the Dice at JPM

Can a pit boss also be a good casino host?

"Blythe Masters, a widely known figure in the securities industry who oversees JPMorgan's commodities businesses, has been given the additional assignment of running regulatory affairs for the corporate and investment bank under her boss James Staley.

"Having her in this role will be critical to helping us drive the business's strategy in light of changing regulations," Cavanagh and Pinto wrote in the memo.

In her regulatory role, Masters will report to Barry Zubrow, the former chief risk officer who came under the microscope after the bank in early summer reported an expected $6 billion trading loss. Zubrow has been head of the bank's corporate and regulatory affairs office since January."

It appears that Blythe Masters will be dual reporting to James Staley and Barry Zubrow.

Dual reporting is an interesting situation to be in.  It is generally a sign of an unresolved management conflict.

As you may recall, Mr. Zubrow was appointed the head of Regulatory Affairs in January 2012, after the London Whale breeched and then blew up on his watch as Chief Risk Officer, a position now held by a Mr. Hogan.

"John Hogan, who only became chief risk officer in JP Morgan Chase in January, will likely be facing some uncomfortable questions following the bank's revelation yesterday it had made $2bn in trading losses since the beginning of April. Hogan, 46, who previously been head of risk in the investment banking division, replaced Barry Zubrow as chief risk officer for the whole firm in January, when Zubrow took on the newly-created role of head of corporate and regulatory affairs."

Generally people appointed to Regulatory Affairs have some serious background as a regulator. I suspect that as one of the chief risk centers and derivatives jugglers at JPM, Blythe Masters role will be to assess and manage the impact of any government changes in her highly volatile domain. It smells like it could be one of those top down corporate inititatives, generated in response to a crisis and a slide presentation by McKinsey and Company, that look good on flip charts but are useless and awkward in implementation. A trip to Liaison Land.

Or it could be the precursor of a fall from grace.

More change is coming I am sure.

Jamie's Blues

JP Morgan's Blythe Masters Is the 2011 Queen of Commodities - Sharkboy and LavaGirl

Blythe Masters is the chief of commodity trading at JPM, and the apparent mastermind behind their gargantuan short position in silver.

Previously, Ms. Masters attained fame for having helped to create credit default swaps.

Their fierce performance in crushing Goldman Sachs in the commodity pits has earned Jamie Dimon and Blythe Masters the fearsome nicknames, "Sharkboy and Lava Girl."

"Isabelle can't cope with our superior platform and industry connections," a certain dark Mistress of the Universe has been heard to say.  If you are the Queen you don't make markets; you own the markets. And everyone, including  Goldman, pays.

The Independent
JPMorgan's British commodities chief notches up $2.8bn
By Jim Armitage
03 March 2012

Blythe Masters, the British woman who runs JPMorgan's commodities division, has steered the department to record turnover exceeding $2.8bn (£1.8bn) in 2011, more than long-time industry leaders Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

Reuters research shows that Cambridge-educated Ms Masters beat her arch-rival, Isabelle Ealet at Goldman Sachs in London, whose commodities division's revenues stagnated at $1.6bn. JPMorgan's performance, a threefold leap in revenues, is a huge bounceback for one of the most powerful women on Wall Street.


In 2010 there had been serious concerns about staff defections and sluggish growth, but Ms Masters, who started at the bank aged 18 as an intern in London, had the firm backing of the chief executive, Jamie Dimon, and investment banking head, Jes Staley. He praised her for being "one tough kid" and stuck with her.

Ms Masters gained notoriety for pioneering credit default swaps, blamed by many for the financial crisis. She acknowledged in a 2008 speech that she had been branded "the woman who created weapons of mass destruction", although she defends the products, saying the people using them were at fault.

Ms Masters built the bank's commodities business through acquisitions including the takeover in 2010 of Royal Bank of Scotland's Sempra Commodities, a large trader of natural gas.

By contrast, rivals have stumbled lately, with Morgan Stanley's revenues shrinking for a third consecutive year, the worst streak since at least 1995, and Goldman Sachs' commodity unit nursing a large drop in revenues since raking in more than $4.5bn in 2009.

The blunt-speaking Ms Masters told staff in 2010 rivals were "scared shitless of us", adding: "They'd better be. This is a platform that's going to win."

Dramatic re-enactment of JPM's Pan European Commodity Victory Tour from Zurich to London