A new general counsel - the most senior legal officer in a firm - is to be installed at JP Morgan early in 2016.

JP Morgan is getting a new general counsel in the person of Stacey Friedman, who currently holds that post at the US-listed bank’s corporate and investment bank. She takes the helm early next year from Steve Cutler, who is to be appointed the firm’s vice chairman.

The move will make Friedman, who will report to Cutler and act as his deputy for the rest of this year, one of the most senior legal figures in the global banking industry.

Cutler and Friedman will report to chairman and chief executive Jamie Dimon next year in their new roles, JP Morgan said in a statement yesterday.

Dimon, in an effusive note of praise for both persons, said he had tried to convince Cutler to stay in post as general counsel for a longer period but that Cutler has said it is the right time to take on a different role.

“Steve has done a simply outstanding job for nearly nine years heading our legal function during some of the most challenging times in our history,” Dimon said. Of Friedman, he said: "Stacey joined our company three years ago from Sullivan & Cromwell, where she spent more than a year working full-time with our company on matters ranging from mortgage-backed securities to our purchase of Washington Mutual. She is recognised throughout the legal and finance communities and across our company as an outstanding legal mind and a first-rate executive.”