Impact of Chiarello's Departure on JPMorgan Chase's IT Strategy Unclear

Mike Ashworth, a 27-year veteran of JPMorgan Chase and head of global technology infrastructure at the bank, reportedly has been appointed interim CIO to replace CIO Guy Chiarello, whose departure was reported yesterday by the Wall Street Journal and confirmed by the bank. Chiarello had served in the CIO role since 2008; he came to JPMorgan Chase from Morgan Stanley.

As CIO, Chiarello oversaw a number of large-scale initiatives, including a growing focus on leveraging the potential of big data and the integration of Bear Stearns' and Washington Mutual's systems following JPMorgan Chase's acquisitions of those two institutions in 2008. More recently, a top priority was developing next-generation consumer channels ranging from mobile to ATMs. Recently the bank named Dr. Gavin Michael as its new head of digital for its Consumer and Community Banking units.

[Read Big Data At J.P. Morgan: Delivering The Firm]

According to the Wall Street Journal report, Chiarello's departure was announced in an internal email that was circulated by chief administrative officer Paul Compton. There was no information about Chiarello's plans after leaving JPMorgan Chase. He is the latest high-level executive to leave the bank, although reportedly his departure has nothing to do with the fall-out from the recent "London Whale" trading that has focused regulatory, political and stockholder scrutiny on the bank's top management.

InformationWeek named Chiarello to its roster of The Global CIO 50 in 2009.

Katherine Burger is Editorial Director of Bank Systems & Technology and Insurance & Technology, members of UBM TechWeb's InformationWeek Financial Services. She assumed leadership of Bank Systems & Technology in 2003 and of Insurance & Technology in 1991. In addition to ... View Full Bio