Sisters of Charity and Goldman Sachs – It could be viewed as a classic David vs. Goliath tale. But it is in fact an example of the effectiveness of the advocacy of the Sisters of Charity of New Jersey.

JPMorgan Chase published a report entitled “How we do business” on Dec. 19. The 96-page document was prepared in response to a request from a shareholder group led by the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth.

Reuters reports – JPMorgan is following Goldman Sachs’ lead by baring some of its soul. The bank run by Jamie Dimon last week unveiled a 96-page publication entitled “How we do business: The report.” Like its rival’s business standards review almost four years ago, the volume is laden with PR-speak, along with some worrying admissions and much-needed improvements.

The idea for the report came from on high, in a manner of speaking – not from Dimon’s office, but from shareholders led by the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth. In recent years this group has pushed banks like JPMorgan and Bank of America to improve practices in corporate governance and disclose more.

There aren’t too many similarities with Goldman’s 2011 effort. In part that’s because JPMorgan did some things better already – it has a deserved reputation for clearer financial reporting than most, for example. One thing that seems to be lacking, though, is any explicit input from clients, whereas Goldman commissioned an independent survey as part of its review.

In addition, Goldman used its eight-month process to come up with recommendations. JPMorgan, on the other hand, is mostly laying out what it has already done.

– JPMorgan Chase published a report entitled “How we do business” on Dec. 19. The 96-page document was prepared in response to a request from a shareholder group led by the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth.

– The report details the bank’s business practices as well as what it has done in response to recent problems such as the $6 billion London Whale trading loss in 2012.

– JPMorgan report: bit.ly/1Cw930j

– Goldman Sachs 2011 report: bit.ly/1xID9vV