JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it plans to close four wholesale mortgage operations centers and enlarge four others by the end of the year.
The move will result in a net reduction of about a third of the network's current staff of about 600, a spokesman said Tuesday.
In a notice to brokers, the company cited efficiencies from the implementation of a loan origination system and said that it expects "to take advantage of scale and become more efficient by operating fewer, but larger centers."
It said it would enlarge staffs at the four remaining offices "to absorb processing from" the closed ones.
The offices to be closed are in Garden City, N.Y., Westmont, Ill., Tampa and San Ramon, Calif. The remaining offices are in Dallas, Cleveland, Charlotte and Orange, Calif.
During a conference call in July, James Dimon, the $1.8 trillion-asset banking company's chief executive, expressed regret over a decision last year to bulk up in prime jumbo mortgages.
"We obviously wish we hadn't done it," he said. "Prime looks terrible, and we're sorry. We can say it eight times — it looks terrible."
"You saw subprime go first, and then on a slight lag you saw home equity go, and now on a lag you're seeing prime go," he said.
