## Note 1 – Basis of presentation 

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (“JPMorgan Chase” or the “Firm”), a financial holding company incorporated under Delaware law in 1968, is a leading global financial services firm in the U.S., with operations worldwide. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing and asset management. Refer to Note 32 for a further discussion of the Firm’s business segments. 

The accounting and financial reporting policies of JPMorgan Chase and its subsidiaries conform to U.S. GAAP. Additionally, where applicable, the policies conform to the accounting and reporting guidelines prescribed by regulatory authorities. 

Certain amounts reported in prior periods have been reclassified to conform with the current presentation. 

## Consolidation 

The Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of JPMorgan Chase and other entities in which the Firm has a controlling financial interest. All material intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated. 

Assets held for clients in an agency or fiduciary capacity by the Firm are not assets of JPMorgan Chase and are not included on the Consolidated balance sheets. 

The Firm determines whether it has a controlling financial interest in an entity by first evaluating whether the entity is a voting interest entity or a variable interest entity. 

## Voting interest entities 

Voting interest entities are entities that have sufficient equity and provide the equity investors voting rights that enable them to make significant decisions relating to the entity’s operations. For these types of entities, the Firm’s determination of whether it has a controlling interest is primarily based on the amount of voting equity interests held. Entities in which the Firm has a controlling financial interest, through ownership of the majority of the entities’ voting equity interests, or through other contractual rights that give the Firm control, are consolidated by the Firm. 

Investments in companies in which the Firm has significant influence over operating and financing decisions (but does not own a majority of the voting equity interests) are accounted for (i) in accordance with the equity method of accounting (which requires the Firm to recognize its proportionate share of the entity’s net earnings), or (ii) at fair value if the fair value option was elected. These investments are generally included in other assets, with income or loss included in noninterest revenue. 

Certain Firm-sponsored asset management funds are structured as limited partnerships or limited liability companies. For many of these entities, the Firm is the general partner or managing member, but the non-affiliated partners or members have the ability to remove the Firm as the general partner or managing member 

without cause (i.e., kick-out rights), based on a simple majority vote, or the non-affiliated partners or members have rights to participate in important decisions. Accordingly, the Firm does not consolidate these voting interest entities. However, in the limited cases where the non- managing partners or members do not have substantive kick-out or participating rights, the Firm evaluates the funds as VIEs and consolidates the funds if the Firm is the general partner or managing member and has a potentially significant interest. 

The Firm’s investment companies and asset management funds have investments in both publicly-held and privately-held entities, including investments in buyouts, growth equity and venture opportunities. These investments are accounted for under investment company guidelines and, accordingly, irrespective of the percentage of equity ownership interests held, are carried on the Consolidated balance sheets at fair value, and are recorded in other assets, with income or loss included in noninterest revenue. If consolidated, the Firm retains the accounting under such specialized investment company guidelines. 

## Variable interest entities 

VIEs are entities that, by design, either (1) lack sufficient equity to permit the entity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support from other parties, or (2) have equity investors that do not have the ability to make significant decisions relating to the entity’s operations through voting rights, or do not have the obligation to absorb the expected losses, or do not have the right to receive the residual returns of the entity. 

The most common type of VIE is an SPE. SPEs are commonly used in securitization transactions in order to isolate certain assets and distribute the cash flows from those assets to investors. The basic SPE structure involves a company selling assets to the SPE; the SPE funds the purchase of those assets by issuing securities to investors. The legal documents that govern the transaction specify how the cash earned on the assets must be allocated to the SPE’s investors and other parties that have rights to those cash flows. SPEs are generally structured to insulate investors from claims on the SPE’s assets by creditors of other entities, including the creditors of the seller of the assets. 

The primary beneficiary of a VIE (i.e., the party that has a controlling financial interest) is required to consolidate the assets and liabilities of the VIE. The primary beneficiary is the party that has both (1) the power to direct the activities of the VIE that most significantly impact the VIE’s economic performance; and (2) through its interests in the VIE, the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits from the VIE that could potentially be significant to the VIE. 

To assess whether the Firm has the power to direct the activities of a VIE that most significantly impact the VIE’s economic performance, the Firm considers all the facts and 

