Foreign banks that employed the relatives of China’s political elite won key roles in the world’s two biggest IPOs, Agricultural Bank of China (601288.SH, 1288.HKG) in 2010 and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (601398.SH, 1398.HKG) in 2006, The Wall Street Journal reported. Goldman Sachs (GS.NYSE) and Merrill Lynch, now part of Bank of America (BAC.NYSE), took part in the IPOs that raised US$22 billion a piece while also employing the sons and daughters of high-ranking government officials. The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are trying to determine whether the banks’ hiring practices violated US laws against paying bribes overseas.
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