[ by Howard Haykin ]

Cynthia 'Cindy' Armine is JPMorgan Chase's new chief compliance officer, replacing Martha Gallo.  Ms. Armine joined JPMorgan in May 2011 to serve as chief control officer of home lending - in part, to oversee a consent agreement reached with U.S. regulators in April over foreclosure practices - an accord that was signed by 13 other banks. 

Prior to joining JPMorgan, Cindy Armine served as Global Chief Compliance Officer at Citigroup in downtown Manhattan - the culmination of a tremendous 31-year career at Citigroup.  Ms. Armine started as a compliance clerk with Smith Barney in 1980.  She was 18 at the time and admitted that she interviewed with Smith Barney simply because her mother worked as a waitress in a coffee shop in Smith Barney's building downtown.  Over the years, Ms. Armine moved up to Chief Compliance Officer at Smith Barney, and then at parent Citigroup's U.S. Corporate & Investment Bank and Global Wealth Management unit.

[C-I Note:   All in all, JPMorgan made a very strategic decision in placing Cindy Armine in the top compliance spot.  JPMorgan, which suffered a $6.2 billion trading loss in 2012, showed serious deficiencies when bank's senior management - including CEO Jamie Dimon - permitted a trading unit to operate outside of key risk management and internal control policies.]

Best of luck, Cindy!  [ American Banker, 1/24/13 ]