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JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has throat cancer

July 02, 2014 10:24 IST

JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon.JP Morgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said he has been diagnosed with throat cancer but his condition is curable and will soon begin treatment while continuing to be "actively involved" in the banking giant's business.            

In a brief letter to his colleagues and shareholders, Dimon disclosed that the cancer was detected quickly and is confined to the original site and adjacent lymph nodes on the right side of his neck with no evidence of cancer elsewhere in his body.            

"The good news is that the prognosis from my doctors is excellent, the cancer was caught quickly, and my condition is curable."            

Dimon, 58, said as he begins the eight-week long radiation and chemotherapy treatment at the city-based Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital, he plans to continue to be "actively involved in our business, and we will continue to run the company as normal."   

Our company will move forward together with confidence as we continue to deliver first-class results for our customers, communities and shareholders. I feel very good now and will let all of you know if my health situation changes," he said in the letter.            

Dimon has been the Chief Executive Officer and President since 2005. He had been President and Chief Operating Officer since JPMorgan Chase's merger with Bank One Corporation in July 2004.            

He serves on the Board of Directors of Harvard Business School and is also on the Board of Trustees of New York University School of Medicine.            

Dimon, whose annual compensation rose 74 per cent to $20 million for 2013, has been at the helm of the banking giant during a tumultuous time with billions of dollars in regulatory penalties being slapped on it.            

The bank had facing a slew of government legal actions and had been required to pay penalties totalling $20 billion to settle the cases.            

Earlier this year, Manhattan's top federal prosecutor India-born Preet Bharara secured a whopping $1.7 billion penalty from J P Morgan, which had been criminally charged for ignoring warning signs of Bernard Madoff's massive Ponzi  scheme.  

In November last year, JP Morgan reached a  $4.5 billion agreement with 21 major institutional investors to resolve legal issues pertaining to mortgage-backed securities.           

J P Morgan agreed to make a binding offer to the trustees of 330 residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) trusts issued by J.P. Morgan, Chase, and Bear Stearns.  

The  $4.5 billion agreement is separate from the $13 billion settlement that JPMorgan reached with the Justice Department over the bank's mortgage practices in the run-up to the financial crisis.  

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Joshita Singh