JPMorgan to pay $264m penalty for recruiting ‘princelings’

JPMorgan has agreed to pay $264 million to settle a US probe into its practice of hiring well-connected Chinese “princelings” to win business, the Financial Times reports. The settlement announced on Thursday is the first to arise from a 2013 Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry over whether bank hiring practices breached the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The 1977 law bans companies from paying bribes to overseas officials to win business. JPMorgan will pay $130m to the SEC, $72m to the Department of Justice and $61.9m to the Federal Reserve to settle the charges. The bank also reached a three-year “non-prosecution” agreement with the DoJ to avoid criminal proceedings in return for implementing an enhanced compliance programme and continuing to co-operate with government investigators.