JPMorgan WSS Buys Up Part of Nordea’s Portfolio of Institutional Assets

(NewsVisual, powered by IntellectSpace) -- In a move that probably required the approval of the Board of Directors of the parent company, JPMorgan Worldwide Securities Services (WSS), a division of JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) that provides global custody and fund services, announced from London on Thursday that it was acquiring the institutional global custody portfolio of Nordea.

Nordea is a Nordic leader of the custody of institutional assets with approximately 200 Billion Euros under management.

“JPMorgan WSS also intends to offer local depository services to in-country mutual funds through the establishment of new branches in Denmark, Finland and Norway together with an expanded presence in Sweden,” the WSS statement reported.

Since it comes on the heels of JP Morgan Chase’s buyout of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc (NYSE: BSC), its likely to raise questions among shareholders as to whether the Bank’s Directors should have allowed the acquisition to go forward at this time.

NewsVisual decided to create an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map in order to illustrate the business connections of JP Morgan’s Board of Directors as a method for assessing their knowledge of corporate financial issues.

The Knowledge Map shows that six of the bank’s Directors currently serve on other corporate boards.

Most noteworthy is Director William H Gray III, who is also a Director for Dell Computer Corp, Pfizer Inc, Prudential Financial Inc, and Visteon Corp.

Likewise, the following three Morgan Directors are noteworthy for serving on more than one other corporate board: Director James S Crown is also a Director for General Dynamics Corp and Sara Lee Corp; Director Ellen V Futter is also a Director for American International Group Inc and Consolidated Edison Inc; and Director Robert I Lipp is also a Director for Accenture Ltd and The Travelers Companies Inc.

Click here for an interactive version of this IntellectSpace Knowledge Map.

(Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).