Gordon Smith Appointed Head of JPMorgan Chase's Credit Card Group

Business Wire, June 18, 2007

NEW YORK -- JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) announced today that it has appointed Gordon Smith to head its Chase Card Services group, effective immediately, succeeding Richard Srednicki, who is retiring from the firm. Mr. Smith, who has resigned as President of American Express Company's Global Commercial Card group to take on this role, will also join JPMorgan Chase's Operating Committee and will report to Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO.

Mr. Smith has spent his entire career - more than 25 years - with American Express, having led and managed most of the company's major businesses in the United States and around the world. Prior to running its Global Commercial Card business, he led American Express's Consumer Card Services group from 2001 to 2005.

Mr. Srednicki, who will be retiring next quarter, played a key role in transforming Chase Card Services into a highly competitive and innovative business, increasing profitability significantly over the last few years. He has been a driving force behind Chase Freedom, blink, and other new product lines, and he has overseen large purchases such as the Sears Canada, Kohl's and BP portfolios. The company has more than 150 million credit cards issued.

"We're very pleased that Gordon Smith will be leading our Card effort. Gordon is a world-class leader who is highly experienced and respected in the industry," Mr. Dimon said. "We look forward to working with him as we build on the successes of our Card group to make this business even stronger."

"Rich Srednicki has been an outstanding leader and partner to me and other members of our Operating Committee," added Mr. Dimon. "Several months ago Rich informed me of his decision to retire later this year, and at that point we commenced a search to identify a great successor, which we now have in Gordon. We all congratulate Rich on his upcoming retirement and thank him for his many contributions to our company and our industry."

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $1.4 trillion and operations in more than 50 countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers, small business and commercial banking, financial transaction processing, asset management, and private equity. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients under its JPMorgan and Chase brands. Information about the firm is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.