Wall Street loves a hero, and 2008 was the year that JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon took on that role. But the smart money is now saying that Dimon is heading for a fall.

Although Dimon managed to navigate the financial crisis more adeptly than rivals in 2008, his chickens appear to be coming home to roost. He will reveal his firm's fourth-quarter earnings at the end of January, and the bank is expected to post its first loss since Dimon became CEO in 2006. Critics point out that, notwithstanding the plaudits, JPMorgan has written down billions as a result of the economic and financial crisis (just not as many as rivals), losses are now on the horizon and the firm's stock price is under pressure (closing almost 7% down in New York trading Monday).

And The Wall Street Journal reports that Morgan Stanley's board has begun to think about who will follow CEO John Mack when he steps down next year. In the frame are two main internal candidates (head of institutional clients Walid Chammah and head of brokerage James Gorman). Long shots are CFO Colm Kelleher and Paul Taubman, who heads the firm's investment banking unit. Although it's still early doors, no insider appears to have staked a convincing claim to the top job, and it's not inconceivable that Morgan Stanley will go outside the firm to make an appointment (US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson will be recharging his batteries over the coming months, and looks a good bet).

The New York Times reports that one of the last things Merrill Lynch did before being officially taken over by Bank of America was to agree to pay $1.5m to settle a US federal lawsuit brought by a former employee who claimed that he was fired because of his religion and national origin (he is Iranian).

Majid Borumand was hired by Merrill Lynch in early 2002 as a quantitative analyst in the company's global markets and investment banking model development group. It was alleged that in June 2005 the firm refused to promote him, despite the fact that he has a Master's in mathematical finance and a Ph.D. in theoretical physics. Merrill instead fired Borumand, allegedly promoting a less qualified individual in his place.

The Daily Telegraph reports that Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway's stock slumped 32% in 2008, its worst performance in over three decades.

Financial News reports that UK investment bank NM Rothschild has posted a 63% fall in profits for the year to 31st March 2008. Pre-tax profits came in at $41.6m.

The Japanese media is reporting that Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group look likely to post  losses in the last 3 months of 2008, due to falling share prices and the effects of the economic downturn.

Reuters reports that investment banking fees in India fell by over a third in 2008, and that bankers expect no recovery until the second half of 2009.

Finally, The Financial Times reports that investment banks in London, suffering from the impact of the financial and economic crisis, have reduced the number of universities they are visiting to bring on staff. According to the newspaper, the 'places to be' are: Cambridge, Imperial, The London School of Economics, Oxford, Warwick and University College London.

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