Which bank lost over $6 billion in 2012 due to the 'London Whale' trading scandal?

JPMorgan Chase lost more than $6 billion in 2012 in the trading scandal known as the London Whale.

The losses came from large derivatives positions held by JPMorgan’s Chief Investment Office and booked through its London operation. Trader Bruno Iksil became known as the “London Whale” because of the size of his positions in credit default swap indexes. The trades were presented as part of a hedging strategy, but their complexity and scale made them difficult to manage and unwind.

JPMorgan first disclosed about $2 billion in losses in May 2012. As the positions were unwound and the figures were recalculated, the final loss reached approximately $6.2 billion. The episode exposed weak risk controls, poor oversight, and failures in internal reporting. CEO Jamie Dimon called the strategy “flawed, complex, poorly reviewed, poorly executed, and poorly monitored.”

The scandal was not a conventional customer deposit loss or bank failure. It was a trading loss inside a major bank’s investment office. U.S. and U.K. regulators later imposed roughly $920 million in combined penalties, while the affair intensified debate over the Volcker Rule.