JPMorgan Goes on the Offensive

Having repaid $25 billion in TARP money, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is back in the recruiting game and talking tough to federal legislators and regulators.

"The bank...is using its industry standing to bolster its ranks," The Wall Street Journal reports Wednesday. Just two weeks repaying the government, JPMorgan hired William Rifkin from Bank of America as vice chairman of M&A. The Journal calls Rifkin one of Wall Street's best-known investment bankers, noting that he worked at Merrill Lynch for more than a decade before it was acquired by BofA at the end of last year.

Meanwhile, JP Morgan former global chief investment strategist Carlos Asilis has been hired by Indian brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt as its chief equity strategist.

JP Morgan is "taking market share in almost every one of their businesses," Barclays Capital analyst Jason Goldberg told Bloomberg News. "They're still playing offense. They're making money and not under capital constraints, which allows them to grow their balance sheet."

Improved results have JPMorgan Chief Executive James Dimon pushing back at federal regulators. The WSJ says Dimon was "particularly furious" when the government banned firms that received TARP funds from hiring foreigners to work in U.S. offices.

Dimon also opposes having derivatives funneled through an exchange and is annoyed with the valuation of government-held JPMorgan warrants.