The CEO of the US bank, which has seen its share price decline this year, has reportedly bought around $26 million of the firm's stock.

JP Morgan has declined to comment on a recent report that its chief executive, Jamie Dimon, has spent about $26 million in buying half a million of the US bank’s own stock.

A report in Dow Jones said the purchase was intended as a sign by Dimon of confidence in a bank that has, along with many peers, seen its share price hit hard in recent market sell-offs.

A spokesperson contacted by this publication declined to comment on the matter. 

Dimon received $27 million in total compensation for 2015. 

In January, JP Morgan reported net income of $5.4 billion for the final quarter of 2015, an increase of 10 per cent compared to the same period a year ago. Net income is down 20 per cent on the previous quarter, however, when it was $6.8 billion. Net revenues meanwhile inched up 1 per cent year-on-year to $23.7 billion, driven by corporate and consumer and community, largely offset by lower revenues in corporate and investment banking and asset management.

Last week, it emerged that Peter Flavel, who has been chief executive in Asia of JP Morgan’s private banking arm, is leaving Singapore to take up the CEO role at the private banking arm of Royal Bank of Scotland, managing the Coutts & Co and Adam & Co brands.