摩根大通可作大行分拆探路先锋

    7月13日，摩根大通的迈克•卡瓦诺没有理会一位分析师提出的有关交易员薪酬问题，但事实上究竟是什么促使交易员虚增利润、甚至可能隐瞒损失，这个问题应该由董事会薪酬委员会来回答。在实施奖金递延机制前，鉴于财务报告的严重不足和他们监督期间出现的一些问题，委员会不应等到2012年底再从首席执行官和首席财务官手中追回部分报酬。而且，薪酬委员会应当审查内部审计是否未能履行职责，以及这些人的报酬是否也应当部分追回。

    提名与治理委员会应当重新考量董事会的现有成员是否足以应对当前公司所面对的经营与诉讼挑战。而且，它应当立即改写董事会职责，全权负责首席执行官的更替。

下一步：分拆庞然大物

    完成痛苦的自查和清理后，摩根大通董事会应当启动将其一分为二的进程。新闻集团（News Corp）在丑闻风波后也在采取类似的行动，这是明智的。

    就像分析师们指出的那样，摩根大通已经大到难以管理。

    幸运的是摩根大通早就有两个可以使用的名字：投资银行用JP摩根（J.P. Morgan），商业银行用大通（Chase）。

    对于摩根大通，这样的分拆不会造成业务一强一弱的状况。两块业务都有自身的优势和挑战。这样的分拆能让董事会更充分地考虑如何重塑自身，并为两块业务挑选出最好的管理者。

    首先分拆摩根大通也是顺应历史的举动，因为当年正是戴蒙的导师威尔提议废除“商业银行与投资银行分立的”格拉斯-斯蒂格尔法案（Glass-Steagall Act）。分拆摩根大通，可能使该法案恢复使用，为未来银行分拆提供一个好的样本。.

监管机构也需要改进

    威尔呼吁银行分拆的同时，银行和证券业监管机构也应当鼓励银行分拆。美国联邦储蓄保险公司（FDIC）应当采取行动，要求偿付风险高的银行支付更高的存款保险费。而且，监管机构应当重新评估它们缺乏直接沟通手段对市场可能造成的损害。虽然这些机构可能不愿公布调查细节，但也不应只限于在美国国会听证会这样少数有限的场合才向市场传达它们的预期。监管机构应当将它们对银行和上市公司的行为预期传递出去，让投资者和客户知晓自身的权利，同时也让银行知晓自身的义务。

    探讨分拆情形时，分析人士和媒体应当牢记近来摩根大通的教训，光看收益数据，不看数据后面的真相，这种做法弊大于利。

    摩根大通的种种问题带来的一个机会是，我们不应仅限于解决具体的问题，而是要创立一套新的优秀管理标准。现在，事情还没有到不可收拾的地步。

    本文作者埃莉诺•布洛克斯汉姆是董事会咨询机构价值联盟和企业管理管理联盟（The Value Alliance and Corporate Governance Alliance）的CEO，公司网址http://thevaluealliance.com/。

    译者：早稻米

    Although J.P. Morgan's Mike Cavanaugh brushed off one analyst's question about the traders'compensation on July 13, it's really the board compensation committee that should be addressing what may have motivated traders to goose earnings and potentially hide losses. Until it implements bonus deferral mechanisms, the committee should not be waiting for the end of 2012 to claw back pay from the CEO and CFO given the material weaknesses in financial reporting and the number of issues arising on their watch. And the committee should be reviewing whether internal audit failed to meet its responsibilities and whether pay should be clawed back there as well.

    The nomination and governance committee should be looking at whether the board has the right people in place to meet the tremendous operational and litigation challenges at the company. And it should be moving swiftly to re-write the board's mandate to take full charge of CEO succession.

Next up: Split the behemoth

    After taking a hard look in the mirror and cleaning its own house, the J.P. Morgan board should begin a process to split the bank in two. News Corp is taking a similar action in the wake of its scandals and it makes sense.

    The bank is too big to manage, as analysts pointed out.

    Lucky for J.P. Morgan it already has two names it can use: J.P. Morgan for the investment bank and Chase for the commercial bank franchises.

    At J.P. Morgan, such a split would not result in a weak business-strong business scenario. Both sides have their strengths and their challenges. The split would allow the board to consider more fully how to reconstitute itself and identify successors who would best be able to run the two separate entities.

MORE: Hostess is bankrupt ... again

    Splitting J.P. Morgan first would be fitting historically as well, since Dimon's mentor Weill provokedthe repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, which mandated a separation between commercial and investment banks. Splitting J.P. Morgan could potentially spur the law's re-instatement while providing a great blueprint for future bank splits.

Regulators need to shape up as well

    Just as Weill has called for bank splits, bank and securities regulators should encourage break-ups of the banks as well. The FDIC should get moving on requiring higher depository insurance premiums for banks with risky pay. And regulators should reevaluate how their lack of forthright communication may be harming the markets. While these institutions may not want to share the details of investigations, their testimonies on Capitol Hill should not be one of a few limited venues for communicating their expectations to the market. Regulators should be communicating their expectations for bank and public company behavior so investors and customers understand their rights, and issuers understand their responsibilities.

    When looking at the split-up scenario, analysts and the media should take the recent lessons from J.P. Morgan to heart and realize that relying on earnings numbers without looking under the rug produces more harm than good.

    Out of J.P. Morgan's woes comes the opportunity to go beyond setting things right to creating a new standard of excellence along with banks that can be managed. All has not yet been lost.

    Eleanor Bloxham is CEO of The Value Alliance and Corporate Governance Alliance (http://thevaluealliance.com/), a board advisory firm.