The JPMorgan trader was nicknamed the “London Whale.”
The nickname referred to Bruno Iksil, a trader in JPMorgan Chase’s Chief Investment Office whose enormous credit-default-swap positions moved markets in 2012. Because he traded through the bank’s London operation and held unusually large positions, market participants began calling him the London Whale.
JPMorgan initially described the trades as part of a hedging strategy, but the positions were complex, poorly monitored, and difficult to unwind. In May 2012, the bank disclosed losses of at least $2 billion; by July, the estimated loss had risen to about $6.2 billion.
The episode triggered investigations, management departures, regulatory penalties, and criticism of the bank’s risk controls. It is sometimes loosely called a rogue-trader scandal, but the trades occurred inside a major institutional office and involved failures in oversight, modeling, escalation, and governance rather than a single unauthorized bet.