NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- JPMorgan Chase, in a surprise announcement, said Thursday that it has suffered trading losses of $2 billion since the start of April.
The group that suffered the losses is part of the bank's so-called corporate unit, and had been making trades designed to hedge against risk.
Net losses, after factoring in other securities gains, are expected to exceed $800 million by the end of the second quarter. And losses could increase depending on market conditions and the bank's actions moving forward, CEO Jamie Dimon said.
The unit had been expected to post a net gain of $200 million.
Shares of JPMorgan (JPM, Fortune 500) fell sharply in trading after the market close, with losses approaching 7%. The stock continued to slide Friday morning, down 4.5% in premarket trading.
Dimon, speaking to analysts and reporters on a conference call, said the losses were caused by "errors," "sloppiness" and "bad judgment."
"This was a unique thing we did," Dimon said. "Obviously it had a lot of problems. It was a bad strategy. It became more complex, it was poorly managed."
Last month, rumors swirled around a JPMorgan employee based in London who had, according to the Wall Street Journal, been taking large positions in credit default swaps. The employee was said to work in the bank's Chief Investment Office.
source: CNN
