NEW YORK — JPMorgan Chase & Co. hired Cindy Armine, head of global compliance at Citigroup Inc., to beef up controls in its mortgage business.
Armine, 50 years old, will be at Citi until the end of the month and start her new job as chief control officer for JPMorgan's home lending business in August, according to memos at both banks.
"Cindy will develop the strategy and oversee overall operating controls in the business, front to back," JPMorgan's chief administrative officer, Frank Bisignano, said in his memo. "We will actively involve her in all aspects of the business, including new business initiatives."
Armine "will also serve as a strategic business partner to me," wrote Bisignano, who has known Armine for some time and worked with her at Citi.
Armine is a loss for Citi, where she was respected for improving the bank's shaky controls and its compliance team. She had been with Citi for 31 years and took over her global compliance role in June 2008, just as the bank entered one of the most difficult periods of its history. It almost collapsed that fall and required $45 billion in government aid to restore capital after years of mismanaging risk.
Armine had managed compliance at Citi's private bank, its Smith Barney brokerage, and the U.S. investment banking business before taking on her most recent task. She "has made a lasting impact on the company and her colleagues in compliance and diversity," said Gene McQuade, head of the firm's Citibank unit. Kathryn Reimann and Pamela Root will become interim co-heads of compliance, he wrote in a memo.
JPMorgan, meanwhile, struggled with botched foreclosures and other issues related to delinquent homeowners. Along with 13 other big banks, it was slapped with a cease-and-desist order from its regulator, demanding improvements and a review of mortgage foreclosure practices.
Armine will be "critical" as JPMorgan is working to "deliver on" the enforcement action "and reshape our organization to better serve our customers," said Bisignano, who in February took control of the mortgage business in addition to his CAO role.
