A federal bribery investigation whether JPMorgan Chase & Co. hired Chinese children principal officials to help it win business only recently in a series of legal and regulatory headaches CEO Jamie Dimon.
Dimon through pilot-bank financial crisis, but now faces at least a dozen investigations from federal agencies and state and foreign governments, including over the "London Whale" trading scandal, more than one billion U.S. dollars cost 6.2.
In the latest probe, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) whether the bank is looking to hire a Hong Kong office of the head of a powerful state-owned enterprises in China to win the child express purpose of underwriting business and other contracts, a person familiar with the matter said.
Sources said, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission questioned the relationship between JP Morgan Chase, in China at least two families may have a legitimate explanation.
U.S. law does not prevent the company employs political and connected executives. But employed people, in order to win business from relatives can bribe, and in accordance with the United States' Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, "the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating JP Morgan's actions.
Florence Harmon SEC spokesman declined to comment on investigations. Beyond is the bank's regulatory filings, and said that the bank with the probe A Hong Kong-based bank spokesman declined to comment.
Regulatory headaches
Whether the results of the latest survey, Damon more and more time being consumed by the legal and regulatory matters.
The Justice Department is investigating whether banks manipulated the U.S. energy market, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Last month, the bank agreed to pay $ 285 million fine, and give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for alleged manipulation of electricity market profit of $ 125 million settlement of transactions. Morgan neither admitted nor denied the violations.
Last week, federal prosecutors filed criminal charges, accusing two former JP Morgan traders deliberately undervalued "whale" scandal losses. The SEC is seeking admission of wrongdoing in a parallel civil action from the bank for a government agency, a rare step.
Earlier this month, the bank disclosed that it is facing parallel criminal and civil probes by the U.S. Department of Justice into mortgage bonds in California, the company sold before the financial crisis.
Since 2011, banks have been written in its quarterly filing with regulators that it "is currently experiencing an unprecedented growth in regulation and supervision, such changes may have a significant impact on how companies conduct business." In the last quarter, Morgan Chase estimates that it may have the legal loss of 680 million yuan, exceeding an undisclosed sum, it has been put aside these allegations.
Wall Street analysts may have underestimated the cost of future litigation bank extent that independent analyst Charles Peabody Portales partners.
JP Morgan Chase's annual litigation costs about $ 490 million U.S. dollars in the past two years, yearly, Peabody expected cost in each of the next two quarters of $ 1.5 1000 to 2000 million U.S. dollars. He added that Wall Street average forecast of about 300 million to 50 thousand U.S. dollars per quarter.
Since the financial crisis, although the major U.S. banks are facing a series of probes, Dimon has repeatedly complained publicly about how regulations designed to prevent the next financial crisis suffocating bank, it can help the economy.
A U.S. Senate subcommittee report describes Dimon directed his then-chief financial officer to a regulator provides a small episode. The bank's board has clearly stated Chairman and CEO, he must improve his relationship with regulators, people familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier this year.
Even heavy litigation costs, JP Morgan issued a net income of $ 2.128 billion last year, its highest level ever even after it suffered $ 620 million in derivatives trading losses of the bad bets by the nickname "London Whale trader Bruno Iksil."
"Elephant hunt"
In China's case, the New York Times said, JP Morgan hired Tang Xiaoning's son, state-controlled financial group China Everbright Group chairman Mr. Tang at one point. "The New York Times" reported that he also has been China's banking regulator.
Young 唐后加入摩 Morgan Chase, mortgage banking conglomerates from China several important tasks, including a subsidiary company to issue shares, according to the newspaper.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating JP Morgan Chase is another problem hiring Zhang Xixi, a now disgraced Chinese railway official's daughter. Banks go to help inform the official of the company, establish railway for the Chinese government, in its plans to go public, "New York Times" said.
The New York Times, "said the bank has not been accused of wrongdoing, citing a government document. Zhang Xixi or Tang Feng Xiaoning unqualified no written evidence, but the SEC is checking whether the bank's Hong Kong office often win connect it to employees Company's business, the newspaper reported.
Mary Long, a Hong Kong-based bank, the spokesman said on Sunday that the bank had been publicly disclosed investigation earlier this month in its quarterly regulatory filing, and with regulatory agencies.
The quarterly filing said, SEC's enforcement division has requested "information and relevant documents, among other things, the company in Hong Kong, its business relationships with some of our customers," the employment of certain former employees.
Politically connected bankers in China to employ the practice is widespread in the early to mid-2000s, when Wall Street firms to engage in so-called "elephant hunting", a term used to describe the chase task management multibillion-dollar stock of the country's large state-owned enterprise products.
One of the more famous Chinese banker from that era was Margaret Ren, daughter former Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang, who has worked in several banks. Most of the major investment banks have hired politically connected Chinese banker, he served as associate or college-age professionals, such as whether there is a higher level, in the past decade at some stage.
In China, many senior investment bankers now think that the heyday of the underwriting agreement has passed, much less of the giant state-owned enterprises listed happen. But the banks and private equity firms are still connected to high-level decision-makers Award.
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