Jamie Dimon's swat team

How J.P. Morgan's CEO and his crew are helping the big bank beat the credit crunch

FORTUNE, September 2, 2008 — It was the second week of October 2006. William King, then J.P. Morgan's chief of securitized products, was vacationing in Rwanda, visiting remote coffee plantations he was helping to finance. One evening CEO Jamie Dimon tracked him down to fire a red alert. "Billy, I really want you to watch out for subprime!" Dimon's voice crackled over King's hotel phone. "We need to sell a lot of our positions. I've seen it before. This stuff could go up in smoke!"

A classic Dimon manic moment, the call is significant for two reasons. First, it marked the beginning of a remarkable strategic shift that helped J.P. Morgan, virtually alone among the big diversified banks, sidestep the worst of a historic credit crisis. Second, it sheds light on Dimon's distinctive... continue reading

Seeing if Banks Are Any Nicer†

We Find Out if Service is Truly a Top Priority; Free Coffee and Couches

Wall Street Journal, March 29, 2007 — n recent times, several big banks have been claiming that they've rediscovered customer service. In New York City, at least, this is showing up in trivial ways, such as a notable absence of bulletproof glass and greeters saying hello to customers as they walk into local branches. Some are even installing couches and TVs and playing pop music to encourage people to linger and perhaps pick up the pamphlets about banking services that they leave scattered around.