Mega-merger kills 10,000 jobs

ABOUT 10,000 jobs will be lost as a result of JP Morgan Chase's $58bn (£31.7bn) purchase of Bank One, Chase chief William Harrison indicated today.

Harrison said he hoped many jobs would be lost through natural wastage, but the plan was to save $2.2bn costs over three years.

The executive team of the merged bank presented its vision to investors today.

The deal has sparked global speculation on Wall Street that it could trigger a wave of consolidation in the sector, though future mergers may not be as big as yesterday's, which creates a bank with $1.1 trillion in assets that is second only to Citigroup in size in the US.

The JP Morgan-Bank One deal was welcomed by most analysts. 'It's a blockbuster of a transaction,' said Denis Laplante of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. The merged bank will control 7% to 8% of deposits in the US, below the 10% allowed.

Harrison will be chairman and chief executive. Bank One's Jamie Dimon will be president and chief operating officer, succeeding Harrison in 2006.

Laplante said: 'JP Morgan gets diversification out of capital markets into retail banking and Dimon gets to run the combined company with the brokerage capability he was coveting.'