JPMorgan to Slash $154B Mortgage Portfolio

On Thursday news reports confirmed that mortgage giant ""JPMorgan"":http://www.jpmorgan.com/pages/jpmorgan plans to scale back a $154 billion mortgage portfolio to a bare minimum on its balance sheets, even as it battles through continuing mortgage losses, multiple suits and settlements over past loan-servicing practices.

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According to ""Bloomberg News"":http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-14/jpmorgan-to-phase-out-mortgage-holdings.html, ""JPMorgan"":http://www.jpmorgan.com/pages/jpmorgan will reduce the holdings ""close to zero,"" the furthest such drawback since it pulled $19.3 billion off the books over the past year.

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CEO Jamie Dimon revealed to analysts over a conference call that the company plans to continue the process by as much as 15 percent a year for the foreseeable future, following reports that ""JPMorgan"":http://www.jpmorgan.com/pages/jpmorgan raised its net income by 13 percent for the second quarter.

""It's going to go down 10 or 15 percent a year until it's close to zero,"" Dimon added in response to a question over the teleconference call, according to ""_The Chicago Tribune_"":http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-07-14/business/chi-jpmorgan-to-wind-down-154b-mortgage-portfolio-dimon-says-20110714_1_chief-executive-jamie-dimon-jpmorgan-chase-mortgage-holdings.

""JPMorgan"":http://www.jpmorgan.com/pages/jpmorgan remains tied-up in huge litigation expenses and mortgage losses, which it paid for by supplementing its already cash-heavy litigation reserves with $1.27 billion. Dimon said much of the billion went to mop up expensive and outstanding foreclosure cases brought by litigants across the country.

""There have been so many flaws in mortgages that it's just-it's been an unmitigated disaster,"" ""_Bloomberg News_"":http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-14/jpmorgan-to-phase-out-mortgage-holdings.html reports the CEO as saying. ""We just really need to clean it up for the sake of everybody. And everybody is going to sue everybody else and it's going to go on for far too long a time.""

""_The Tribune_"":http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-07-14/business/chi-jpmorgan-to-wind-down-154b-mortgage-portfolio-dimon-says-20110714_1_chief-executive-jamie-dimon-jpmorgan-chase-mortgage-holdings reports that the mortgage giant will continue originating home-equity loans at $1 billion to $2 billion per quarter.