Bill Weldon

For years, JPMorgan Chase & Co Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon and other executives have hand-picked new directors, in a practice that is now unusual for a major U.S. bank.The JPMorgan board's governance committee, responsible for hiring new members, relies almost entirely on referrals from management to find director nominees, according to two sources familiar with the bank's practices and a review of bank regulatory filings. All of the other 10 largest U.S. banks say they use executive search firms, which have knowledge of a range of possible candidates.An examination of the bank's selection process, which until now has been little known, could prompt questions about how much influence Dimon has over the largest U.S. bank's board. It comes ahead of a critical shareholder vote next Tuesday over whether the board should strip him of the chairman's title and give it to another director, which would increase oversight of Dimon's stewardship as CEO.Selecting directors in this way can create ...

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