Still nothing to worry about, I assume

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, smiles while testifying before the House Financial Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Tuesday, June 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

According to the New York Times, which has been pumping current and former employees of JP Morgan Chase, the two billion dollars the bank lost on risky trades could end up being four and half times as much, which would be NINE billion dollars.

That’s a scary number, so I thought this might be a good time to remind ourselves that as scary as it might sound, there is nothing to worry about.

Because when Chase CEO Jamie Dimon testified before the Senate two weeks ago, he was clear that his bank was not in danger of failing, and that even in the unlikely event that it did, it could fail safely.

“We’ve actually filed recently an analysis and report of how they would go about dismantling JP Morgan that didn’t cost the taxpayer a dime,” said Jamie Dimon.

It wouldn’t cost the taxpayer a dime.

He called it a living will and said banks that don’t prepare one should suffer the disgrace of a ruthless bankruptcy.

“Personally, I call bankruptcy for big, dumb banks. I think when you have bankruptcy I’d have claw-backs, I’d fire the management, I’d fire the board, I’d wipe out the equity,” said Dimon.

One senator just wanted to clarify what Dimon said.

“If JP Morgan became a big, dumb bank in serious financial difficulty, is your sense that it would be concluded with JP Morgan’s demise and no cost for the taxpayer?” asked a senator at the hearing.

“Yes, that’s the objective, yeah,” responded Dimon.

That was two weeks ago when Chase’s losses were pegged at only $2 billion, but so far nothing indicates he’s changed his mind. So have a good weekend and be sure check back on Monday.