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Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's Ratings Services each
downgraded their assessment of America's biggest bank, JPMorgan Chase
& Co., on Friday, AP reports.
The rating agencies' move comes a day after JPMorgan
disclosed a surprise $2 billion trading loss in a portfolio designed to
hedge against risks the company takes with its own money.
Fitch said the size of the loss is manageable but the
risk it brings is not. The magnitude of the loss and JPMorgan's hedging
position imply a lack of liquidity. The loss also raises questions
about its practices, oversights and other key issues, according to the
rating agency.
Fitch said JPMorgan's risk to its reputation and
governance no longer merit an "AA-" rating and lowered its long-term
issuer default rating one notch to "A+", which remains in
investment-grade territory. It also lowered a number of other ratings on
the New York company and placed it on review for possible future
downgrades.
At its current "A+" rating though, JPMorgan remains among the elite.
Fitch said that the company is the leader in the U.S.
with a growing international business. It also has a sufficient cushion
to absorb any unlikely losses. But the complexity of its operations
makes it difficult to fully assess the bank's exposure to risk, and the
long-term implications for its reputation remain to be seen.
As a result, Fitch believes JPMorgan's ratings remain
at risk for downgrade until its governance practices, appetite,
oversight and reputational impact can be more fully examined.
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