Federal regulators announced Thursday that they had fined JPMorgan Chase $264 million for violations of anti-bribery laws at an Asian subsidiary.
The regulators had charged that JPMorgan Securities (Asia Pacific) offered internships and jobs to unqualified candidates between 2006-13 to curry favor with government officials in a position to give the investment bank business.
“JPMorgan engaged in a systematic bribery scheme by hiring children of government officials and other favored referrals who were typically unqualified for the positions on their own merit,” said Andrew Ceresney, head of enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SEC’s findings suggest that the investment bank was intentional and calculated in hiring about 200 interns and employees over the course of seven years to ingratiate the bank with officials, including many with Chinese agencies. In one case, a banker asked another banker in an email: “[H]ow do you get the best quid pro quo from the relationship upon confirmation of the offer[?]”
The SEC said the bank maintained a spreadsheet to calculate the revenue that would come from business drummed up by accepting referrals from government officials, and that it never turned down such a referral, despite knowing that they were running afoul of regulations. Such hires violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The announcement of the settlement was made amid rumors that President-elect Trump has talked with JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon about the possibility of him serving as Treasury secretary in the new administration.
The fines included $130 million to the SEC, $72 million to the Department of Justice and $61.9 million to the Federal Reserve.
