JPMorgan hit by U.S. bribery probe into Chinese hiring: report

[Baitball Blogger]

Reuters) - U.S. authorities have opened an investigation into whether JPMorgan Chase & Co hired the children of powerful Chinese officials to help it win business in China, according to the New York Times.

Investment banks have a long history of employing the children of China's politically connected. While close ties to top government officials is a boon to any banking franchise across the world, it's especially beneficial in China, where relationships and personal connections play a critical role in business decisions.

The approval process for a stock offering in China, for example, is one area that has come under criticism inside and outside the country for being opaque and prone to cronyism.

For JPMorgan, the China hiring probe comes while the bank is under intense scrutiny following the $6 billion trading loss it suffered in the "London whale" derivatives scandal. Federal prosecutors on Wednesday brought criminal charges against two former JPMorgan traders - Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout - accusing the pair of deliberately understating losses on the trades on the bank's books.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/consumer/sns-rt-us-jpmorgan-investigation-china-20130817,0,4782862.story