Mein Lieblings- Artikel: Time to SellJPMorgan Chase is forcing thousands of former WaMu employees to sell their shares by March 22 or see them liquidated. But the former workers worry about forfeiting their claims to assets currently in dispute in the bank's bankruptcy case. In a controversial move, JPMorgan Chase is forcing thousands of former Washington Mutual employees to sell their WaMu shares as the New York company combines the two banks’ retirement plans. If former WaMu employees don’t cash out of the stock on their own by March 22, JPMorgan will liquidate the shares in their 401(k) accounts and transfer the balance to their new JPMorgan accounts, according to an email obtained by the Puget Sound Business Journal and confirmed by a JPMorgan spokeswoman. The move would affect about 32,800 former WaMu employees nationwide who now work at the parent bank. Many former WaMu employees were heavily invested in the stock, which once fetched $40 a share and now trades for about 20 cents. The stock plunged after Washington Mutual’s banking assets were seized by regulators and sold to JPMorgan in September 2008, leaving behind the bank’s holding company, Washington Mutual Inc. JPMorgan’s move has rattled some former WaMu employees, who want to hang on to their stock despite its low value. The former employees worry that by selling they may forfeit claim to billions of dollars in assets currently in dispute in the bankruptcy case of WaMu’s holding company. “People haven’t sold their stock because they think that maybe there’ll be a settlement or maybe it will have value someday,” said one former WaMu employee who now works at JPMorgan. The employee spoke on condition of anonymity because of a nondisclosure agreement with JPMorgan. Another employee described his outrage on a popular message board for the stock: “Can Chase liquidate my position against my will??” he asked. Darcy Donahoe-Wilmot, a spokeswoman for JPMorgan and a former WaMu employee, said the company is just trying to move all employees into the same 401(k) plan. “By being a part of that, WaMu (stock) is not offered in their portfolio,” she said. The tussle illustrates the continued complexities of JPMorgan’s abrupt purchase of Washington Mutual during the height of the financial crisis. JPMorgan has rapidly rebranded thousands of WaMu branches to Chase and now appears to be tackling administrative functions. The forced sale of WaMu shares could affect other shareholders who might see the value of their stock fall. It’s unclear if the move will affect the holding company bankruptcy in federal court in Delaware. WaMu shareholders recently won hard-fought representation in the bankruptcy case, giving them a chance to claim some of the $7 billion in wealth that was wiped out when the bank was seized. JPMorgan Chase probably is removing WaMu stock from its 401(k) plan to simplify record keeping and accounting, said Rick Howell, a principal of Seattle, Washington-based Northwest Plan Services Inc., which specializes in employee-sponsored retirement-fund consulting. It’s also legal, he added. It’s not unusual for a large employer to cut back on stock offerings to employees in favor of mutual fund investments, Howell said. According to JPMorgan Chase’s internal email, the company would transfer the proceeds from sale of WaMu stock into a short-term, fixed-income fund. “They purchased WaMu with the goal of consolidation, and having more retirement plans than you need is duplication,” Howell said. “This allows them to be more efficient.” Nur für diejenigen wer es verpasst habe, und überhaupt kein K/V empfehlung. |
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