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8/31/2020
8/30/2020
JPMorgan Chase remote, office work model
Brief
- Employees in JPMorgan Chase’s corporate and investment bank will work from the office and from home, permanently keeping in play — at least part of the time — a remote-work option, explains Daniel Pinto, the bank’s co-president. “Depending on the type of business, you may be working one week a month from home, or two days a week from home, or two weeks a month,” Pinto said via Zoom.
- Driving the bank’s move are a number of factors. Some workers are experiencing burnout from being at home for several months, and some managers are noting a dip in productivity. However, social distancing requirements are capping building capacity at about half what it was prior to the pandemic.
- The bank’s trading unit is already testing the rotational work model, and investment bankers will start soon, Pinto said. JPMorgan’s New York buildings are at roughly 10% capacity on average, while trading businesses are closer to 30%.
Insight
JPMorgan Chase co president Pinto first sketched out a rotational return-to-work model in May as one of several potential scenarios. He said more recently that the exact schedules for return will vary by business unit.
Record results in JPMorgan Chase’s trading unit no doubt boosted Pinto’s confidence that employees can work efficiently from home. The unit posted a 32% increase in revenue in the first quarter. JPMorgan’s investment bank followed that up in the second quarter with an 86% jump in net income from 2019’s second quarter. However, Pinto said the bank will have to create new tools to manage remote workers and track productivity.
The hybrid model may help the bank achieve a number of goals, including cost savings. Some of the savings will come in the form of real estate. If more employees are regularly working remotely, the bank will not need to hold as much office space or keep so many permanent workspaces: employees could work from temporary hot desks when they’re in the office.
Additionally, the bank could close backup trading floors outside New York and London.
Maintaining a rotational model may also help the bank and its employees stay prepared in case future spikes in coronavirus infection rates call for further lockdowns.
“The hybrid working model is in everybody’s game plan now, where it wasn’t before,” Tim Carmody, chief technology officer of IPC, believes.
Office return dates will likely be a hot topic in the coming weeks.
On Wednesday Bank of New York Mellon asked told most of its employees to continue working remotely until at least Jan. 1, although it had planned for some employees to return next month.
“Our top priority remains the health and safety of our employees and our clients,” BNY Mellon spokeswoman Madelyn McHugh told Bloomberg in an emailed statement. “We remain operational and responsive to client needs during this time, with 96% of the bank’s employees working remotely.”
BNY Mellon isn’t the only bank postponing return plans. Wells Fargo has pushed back its date at least twice, most recently to October. Truist this month delayed its return until at least Jan. 31, 2021. Last month Citi was forced to delay its expected office returns in 13 states.
Others, such as Morgan Stanley and Golman Sachs, returned some workers in June.
From Bankingdive (edited)
Germany dog walking law
This week, German Minister of Food and Agriculture
Julia Klöckner proposed an animal welfare ordinance that has some pet owners
barking mad: a mandate to exercise one's dog twice a day for a total of at
least one hour.
"Pets are not toys — their needs must be taken
into account," Klöckner said. The ministry suggested the exercise might
take the form of a walk, or letting the dog run around outside.
The ordinance has stirred much discussion in the German press. "Two hours of walking will soon be mandatory?". "Is the paternalism going too far?"
"I don't believe in regulation!" golden retriever owner Helge Melzer told the tabloid Bild. "Every dog is different, has a different age, different diseases. The owner should decide."
Bärbel Kleid owns a Yorkshire terrier in Berlin. "I find it patronizing to be told how long I should take my dog out for. And who is going to check up on me? Will the neighbor call the police if they suspect me of not taking Sam for long enough walks?"
But Julia Duden, who owns a 6-year-old Labrador, supported the law. "Going for a walk should definitely be a must! It is absolutely correct and important that you go out with your dog for at least an hour every day."
There's one question on everyone's mind, in a nation
with 9 million dogs: How will such a rule be enforced? Germany's states will
have to figure that out.
It's not clear whether the proposed rules are aimed at
pushing ordinary dog owners to give their pets more exercise, or if the
measures are really aimed at commercial dog breeders.
Udo Kopernik, spokesman for VDH the German dog breeders' association, said that a rule requiring specific amounts of time for dog walking doesn't hit the mark.
"A rule for all dogs is probably well meant, but unrealistic. Just like us humans, dogs are very different. There are dogs that need a lot more and some dogs that even get by with less," Kopernik said in an interview with Bild. "With very old dogs, it is enough to just lead them around the block twice a day."
The German animal welfare association called the proposed regulations a step in the right direction — but said the new rule doesn't go far enough. The group's president, Thomas Schröder, said prospective dog owners should be required to prove expertise on dog care and training before purchase.
"A dog needs daily exercise in the open air and social contacts according to its needs. We welcome the fact that there are now more specific requirements," Schröder said.
And he had a suggestion to aid enforcement of any dog
exercise laws: "If you want to protect dogs, you should also require
owners to identify and register their four-legged friends."
From NPR (edited)
Corporate crime and non-punishment
A-
Please
choose the right option
In – On 2017, Western Union acknowledged that it had
violated the Bank Secrecy Act. But instead of facing prosecution, the
corporation — whose - which reported annual revenue was $5.3 billion in
2019 — entered a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the United States.
By agreeing to the DPA, Western Union avoided prosecution and agreed paying - to pay $586 million to ists victims.
More recently, aerospace giant Airbus — that – whom last year reported revenue of $70.5 billion — entered a DPA and avoided criminal prosecution for corruption in multiple countries. Officials accused Airbus of- with using intermediaries to bribe public officials and the company paid a $4 billion fine.
Then there’s General Motors. The automaker admitted that its long-hidden
ignition problem killed – might kill at least 124 people in the span of a decade. While – However, GM, that
reported $137.2 billion in revenue in 2019, escaped prosecution by entering a DPA in 2016 and paying a $900 million fine.
Neither of – None of these cases are exceptional. Actually - Instead,
they are typical of how major corporate crime is handed - handled, with
negotiated payments rather than prosecution, conviction and punishment.
The Department of Justice wants to avoid to drive - driving a
large company out of business. For example, the shuttering of accounting firm
Arthur Andersen after the Enron prosecutions was a lightning-rod event, one the
DOJ wants prevent – to prevent from repeating
B - How
about getting the underlined answers?
1 In 2017 Western Union acknowledged wire fraud in violation of the Bank Secrecy Act.
3. Western Union agreed to pay $586 million to its victims.
4. Airbus used intermediaries to bribe public officials.
5. GM hid ignition problems for a decade.
6. GM escaped prosecution by entering into a DPA in 2016 and paying a $900 million fine.
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