Looking beyond Dimon; Wells taps mortgage chief

Receiving Wide Coverage
Who's next?: JPMorgan Chase named Daniel Pinto, head of its corporate and investment bank, and Gordon Smith, its consumer and community bank chief, as co-presidents and co-COOs, putting them in the running to succeed chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon. “This is the most clear statement yet by the bank and Mr. Dimon with regards to his succession,” the Wall Street Journal comments. However, the bank said in the statement that Dimon, 61, will continue in his role for “approximately five more years.” Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, American Banker

No joke: Three European banks have been fined a total of more than $46 million to settle Commodity Futures Trading Commission charges of “spoofing” futures markets. Deutsche Bank was required to pay a $30 million civil penalty while UBS was fined $15 million and HSBC $1.6 million. At the same time, the Department of Justice charged eight people in the scheme, which involved placing fake orders to create the impression of robust supply or demand in order to move prices. DOJ called it “the largest futures market criminal enforcement action in department history.” Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, Washington Post

Bad news: MetLife’s stock dropped sharply on Monday after it postponed its earnings report and said it will "correct" prior reports. The insurance company said it expects to increase its reserves by as much as $575 million to cover annuity and pension payments for tens of thousands of workers it can no longer locate. It also disclosed that the Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York Department of Financial Services are looking into the matter. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times

Wall Street Journal
Man of the house: Wells Fargo named Michael DeVito to head its mortgage division, a position he has held on an interim basis since late last year, when Franklin Codel, the head of the bank’s mortgage and auto units, was fired for making disparaging comments about regulators. DeVito was previously head of mortgage production.

DeVito’s “permanent elevation to the top mortgage spot comes at a difficult time for the division and the broader mortgage market,” the paper says, noting the slowdown in refinances as interest rates have climbed and uncertainty about the new tax law’s impact on some parts of the housing market.

Coup: Stephen Pitts, a senior Deutsche Bank banker with close ties to tech giant SoftBank and “a long history of structuring deals for telecommunications companies,” is moving to rival Bank of America. “Bankers have been salivating over opportunities to work with SoftBank” and its $100 billion Vision Fund, the paper notes. Several of the Vision Fund’s top executives, including its CEO, are former DB bankers and traders. Separately, B of A said it plans to open its first three Pittsburgh branches.

Washington Post
Don't ask: Bank of America has joined the growing list of companies that say they will no longer ask job candidates how much they were paid in their previous position. The change was part of the bank’s announcement last week that female workers with similar experience and in similar job categories are paid 99% of what men make.

Quotable
“The Board and [Jamie] Dimon both believe that under all timing scenarios, whether today or in the future, the company has several highly capable successors in place.” — Statement from JPMorgan Chase.