Although the third quarter went well at JPM's investment bank from a pay perspective (if nothing else), Bloomberg helpfully points out that compensation for the first nine months of 2014 was actually down 3% at JPMorgan compared to the previous year. Between January and September 2014, JPMorgan accrued $262m less to pay its corporate and investment bankers than it did over the same period one year earlier. Worse, deeper pay cuts may be necessary in the fourth quarter - the return on equity in JPMorgan's corporate and investment bank collapsed from 18% in the first nine months of 2013 to 12% in the same period of 2012 and the bank is facing steep fines for its role in the FX fixing scandal. The third quarter looks like an anomaly. Pay at JPMorgan's CIB is almost certainly going to decline. Bad luck.