InJPMorgan Chase &Co.'s annual report for 2015, COO Matt Zames echoed 's LloydBlankfein when he said "We are a technology company." The year saw roughly30% of the company's more-than-$9 billion technology budget used for newinvestments, while 13% of its legacy applications were decommissioned and thenumber of third-party vendors for core technology projects reduced by 40%. Inthe corporate and investment bank, Rates' electronic client revenue rose 47%year over year; Equities' was up 27%.
Thereport also included an update on oil-and-gas exposure — it made up 5.3% ofJPMorgan's total wholesale exposure as of the end of 2015. Approximately $24billion of it was investment grade, and $4 billion of that amount drawn.
Legalupdates covered a Justice Department probe on alleged discriminatory practicesin auto-lending, a $150 million settlement in connection with the London Whalescandal and the Jan. 4 termination of an amended OCC order. As of Dec. 31, 2015, JPMorgan's estimate forpossible losses in excess of reserves reached $3.6 billion — down from December2014's $5.8 billion.For full year 2016, and excluding legal costs, firmwide adjusted expense ispegged at approximately $56 billion.
Alsofor 2016, the company expects renegotiated co-brand agreements and lowermortgage banking revenue to drag noninterest revenue down to $50 billion.Meanwhile, even without furtherrate hikes, net interest income could be $2 billion higher yearover year, with an expected core loan growth of 10% to 15%.
Thefirst three months of the year, however, has seen investment banking revenuefall 25% from the year-ago period, while markets revenue has dropped 20%.