“The ability of J. P. Morgan Chase to recover from a string of recent losses rests largely in the hands of two men who are both looking to restore battered reputations and may be considered for the top job someday,” writes Riva Atlas in today’s New York Times.

“One of them, Geoffrey T. Boisi, now the co-head of J. P. Morgan’s investment bank, left Goldman, Sachs & Company more than a decade ago after, executives said, he lost out in a bid to lead that firm. The other, David A. Coulter, who runs J. P. Morgan’s consumer business, was chief executive of BankAmerica until it merged with NationsBank and a power struggle with Hugh L. McColl Jr. sent him out the door in 1998.”

“At J. P. Morgan Chase, Mr. Boisi and Mr. Coulter, both 54, have taken on jobs that are tough as well as critical. They run businesses that accounted for 85 percent of J. P. Morgan Chase’s operating revenue in the first quarter. But the bank has been struggling with lackluster performance since J. P. Morgan and Chase Manhattan merged at the end of 2000. Aside from disappointing results in investment banking — because of slack demand for mergers and stock offerings — the bank has lost money on some big corporate customers and on its investment portfolio, as well as in Argentina.”

“The company’s reputation has also been badly damaged by the bankruptcy filings of companies it had lent money, including Enron, Kmart and Global Crossing, as investors and competitors question the bank’s judgment. These loans mostly preceded Mr. Boisi’s arrival.”

“A slight improvement in results at J. P. Morgan Chase in the most recent quarter has quieted talk that William B. Harrison Jr., who is 58, will soon be out of a job as chief executive. But some people close to the bank are continuing to handicap who might eventually succeed him.”

“Mr. Boisi (pronounced BWAH-zee) is eager for the job, said friends and colleagues who insisted on anonymity. But if the board picked from within the bank right now, they said, Mr. Coulter would have the advantage. Mr. Coulter has already run a bank, and his business is now reporting strong earnings, while profits continue to fall at the investment bank run by Mr. Boisi. Bloomberg News William B. Harrison Jr., the chief executive at J. P. Morgan Chase.”

” ‘I am very comfortable with the management of the consumer business right now,’ said James Ellman, portfolio manager for the Merrill Lynch Global Financial Services Fund, which owns J. P. Morgan shares. ‘David Coulter might be a dark horse to take over the firm.’ “