JPMorgan Chase today cleared the path for Jes Staley, the head of asset management, to succeed Jamie Dimon as boss of the US banking giant following a major executive overhaul.

The group announced today that Mr Staley will become head of the group's investment bank unit immediately while Steve Black, the division's current co-chief executive, will become its executive chairman. He will hand over completely to Mr Staley at the end of 2010.

Mr Black’s colleague, Bill Winters, currently co-chief of JPMorgan Chase’s investment unit, will leave.

Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, said: "With the credit crisis largely behind us and the economy recovering, the timing was right to begin the succession process.

"Steve and Jes will work closely together and complete a smooth transition at the end of 2010."

Mr Dimon has no plans to leave the bank. However, he has always said that succession is one of the most important issues on his agenda.

Mr Staley, aged 53, is the same age as Mr Dimon and is regarded as one of the group's star performers.

JPMorgan, which emerged from the credit crunch relatively unscathed, recently repaid its $25 billion loan from the US Government’s Troubled Asset Relief Programme.

The group, which in July unveiled a 36 per cent increase in profits to $2.7 billion for the second quarter, rescued Bear Stearns in a $30 billion deal brokered by the Government in March last year.

Mr Staley has worked at JPMorgan since 1979.

He was a founding member of JPMorgan's equities business and headed equity capital markets before becoming chief executive of the private bank in 1999.

Mr Dimon is one of the biggest names in the banking world. He recently heralded the return of super-rewards for bankers.

Unveiling the bank's July figures — which also revealed a 41 per cent rise in net revenue to $27.7 billion — he said that competition for talented bankers was heating up again. "It's just going back to where it was."

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