JP Morgan Tracked Business of Hiring The Children of China's Elite
In the past few months, the New York Times has run a series of stories revealing the business practices of JP Morgan in China, where the bank hired the children of the country's elite to get business from the Chinese Government. How far did JP Morgan go in pursuing these deals? Federal authorities have obtained documents that show the bank tracking the hirings to potential business deals.
The New York Times writes,
The documents, which also include spreadsheets that list the bank's "track record" for converting hires into business deals, offer the most detailed account yet of JPMorgan's "Sons and Daughters" hiring program, which has been at the center of a federal bribery investigation for months. The spreadsheets and emails — recently submitted by JPMorgan to authorities — illuminate how the bank created the program to prevent questionable hiring practices but ultimately viewed it as a gateway to doing business with state-owned companies in China, which commonly issue stock with the help of Wall Street banks.
The practice, which violates several American laws, was something of an "open secret" at JP Morgan, where bank officials were very clear with members of the Chinese government about expectations for business deals if they gave their children jobs.
The documents are pretty funny actually. One exchange recorded details the hiring of a Chinese "princeling" in exchange for a profitable business deal:
"All we have to do," the banker said, is secure the relative "a full-time analyst job at JPM in N.Y."
The problem, another employee in Hong Kong acknowledged, was that the candidate's "napping habit will be an eye-opening experience for our N.Y. colleagues."
Hate to be in the cubicle next to that guy.
And while some news outlets have refused to cover such corrupt deals, the New York Times continues to publish pieces that expose the illegality of many American business deals in China. Their reward? All New York Times reporters will be kicked out of China on December 31st.