The head of the nation's largest bank faced off against a panel of lawmakers on Capitol Hill Wednesday. Our Washington, D.C. reporter Erin Billups was there and has the story.
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
WASHINGTON, D.C. --"We've let a lot of people down and we are very sorry for it," said JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon.
Dimon apologized Wednesday to Senators during a Banking Committee hearing on his company's two billion dollar trading loss in April. Dimon admitted he initially downplayed the significant loss.
"When I made that statement I was dead wrong," said Dimon.
…Saying he relied on bad intel from other top JP Morgan managers.
Dimon said, "I was assured by them and I have the right to rely on them, that they thought this was an isolated small issue and that it wasn't a big problem."
Dimon also reiterated the loss only affected JP Morgan's shareholders, not its clients or taxpayers.
Still, lawmakers asked for assurances that similar bad bets can be avoided in the future. Democrats pointed to the need for more Wall Street reform.
"I think what frightens most people about what happened is not the effect on JP Morgan, but I think the question that bothers most people is what's to stop this from happening again?" asked New York Senator Charles Schumer.
During the relatively tame two hour hearing, several Republicans encouraged Dimon to share his criticism of recent efforts to regulate Wall Street.
"I thought it was unnecessary when it was added on top of all the other stuff," Dimon said.
While the Senators gave Dimon a polite reception, there were several present that were not at all pleased with the Wall Street CEO.
"These men are predators on the American taxpayer money," one protester said.
The start of the hearing was delayed as officers pulled rowdy protesters out of the room, then taking them into custody.
"Millions of people are having their homes stolen from them by that man Jamie Dimon," another protester said.