Common stock (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended					0 Months Ended					12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 11, 2009	Oct. 28, 2008	Mar. 18, 2011 Approved Repurchase Program Period Start in 2011 [Member]	Mar. 13, 2012 Approved Repurchase Program Period Start in 2012 [Member]	Mar. 18, 2011 Repurchase Program Authorized Period of 2011 [Member]	Mar. 13, 2012 Repurchase Program Authorized Period of 2012 [Member]	Mar. 13, 2012 Repurchase Program Authorized Period of First Quarter of 2013 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Additional Paid-in Capital [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Additional Paid-in Capital [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Additional Paid-in Capital [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Common stock	Dec. 31, 2011 Common stock	Dec. 31, 2010 Common stock	Dec. 31, 2012 Treasury stock, at cost	Dec. 31, 2011 Treasury stock, at cost	Dec. 31, 2010 Treasury stock, at cost	Dec. 31, 2012 JPMorgan Chase & Co. Warrants, each to purchase one share of Common Stock	Dec. 31, 2011 JPMorgan Chase & Co. Warrants, each to purchase one share of Common Stock	Dec. 31, 2012 JPMorgan Chase & Co. Warrants, each to purchase one share of Common Stock Additional Paid-in Capital [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 JPMorgan Chase & Co. Warrants, each to purchase one share of Common Stock Additional Paid-in Capital [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Common Stock, Shares Authorized	9,000,000,000		9,000,000,000
Common Stock, Par or Stated Value Per Share	$ 1.00		$ 1.00
Common Stock, Capital Shares Reserved for Future Issuance														325,000,000
Increase (Decrease) in Common Stock Shares
Issued - balance at January 1	4,104,933,895	4,104,933,895	4,104,933,895
New open market issuances														0	0	0
Total issued - balance at December 31	4,104,933,895	4,104,933,895	4,104,933,895
Increase (Decrease) in Treasury Stock Shares
Treasury - balance at January 1	(194,600,000)	(162,900,000)	(300,981,690)
Purchase of treasury stock	(226,900,000)	(77,900,000)															(33,500,000)
Share repurchases related to employee stock-based awards																	(200,000)	(100,000)	(100,000)
Issued from treasury: Employee benefits and compensation plans																	63,700,000	88,300,000	45,300,000
Issued from treasury: Employee stock purchase plans																	1,300,000	1,100,000	1,000,000
Total issued from treasury																	65,000,000	89,400,000	46,300,000
Total treasury - balance at December 31	(332,243,180)	(194,600,000)	(300,981,690)
Outstanding	3,772,700,000	3,910,300,000	3,804,000,000
U.S. Treasury Capital Purchase Program
US Treasury Warrant to purchase shares of the Firm's common stock, number of shares			88,401,697
Exercise price for US Treasury Warrant to purchase shares of the Firm's common stock					42.42
Sale amount of US Treasury Warrant in secondary public offering				$ 950,000,000
Warrants repurchased by the Firm																				18,471,300	10,167,698
Adjustments to Additional Paid in Capital, Other											(262,000,000)	(125,000,000)	(1,273,000,000)									(238,000,000)	(122,000,000)
Class of Warrant or Right, Outstanding																				59,762,699	78,233,999
Common Equity Repurchase Program
Stock Repurchase Program Amount Authorized for Repurchase of Common Equity						15,000,000,000	15,000,000,000	8,950,000,000	12,000,000,000	3,000,000,000
Shares of common stock repurchased by the Firm														31,000,000	229,000,000	78,000,000
Cost of common stock repurchased by the Firm														$ 1,300,000,000	$ 8,800,000,000	$ 3,000,000,000