AFP, Washington :
JP Morgan Chase has agreed to pay $264 million to settle a foreign bribery case dubbed the “princelings case” in which the bank gave prized jobs to friends and relatives of Chinese officials, US officials announced Thursday.
The multinational bank, now the world’s largest by market capitalization, admitted to taking in more than $100 million after hiring candidates referred by clients, including by senior Chinese officials in positions to steer business to the bank.
Despite the announcement, shares in the JP Morgan were trading higher Thursday afternoon, up 0.6 percent shortly after 2000 GMT in New York.
“Awarding prestigious employment opportunities to unqualified individuals in order to influence government officials is corruption, plain and simple,” Leslie Caldwell, chief of the US Justice Department’s criminal division, said in a statement.
The case drew attention for its focus on the use of hiring as a form of bribery.
Over a seven-year period, between 2006 and 2013, JP Morgan Chase hired nearly 100 employees and interns referred by government officials at 20 different state-owned businesses in China, officials said.
JP Morgan Chase has agreed to pay $264 million to settle a foreign bribery case dubbed the “princelings case” in which the bank gave prized jobs to friends and relatives of Chinese officials, US officials announced Thursday.
The multinational bank, now the world’s largest by market capitalization, admitted to taking in more than $100 million after hiring candidates referred by clients, including by senior Chinese officials in positions to steer business to the bank.
Despite the announcement, shares in the JP Morgan were trading higher Thursday afternoon, up 0.6 percent shortly after 2000 GMT in New York.
“Awarding prestigious employment opportunities to unqualified individuals in order to influence government officials is corruption, plain and simple,” Leslie Caldwell, chief of the US Justice Department’s criminal division, said in a statement.
The case drew attention for its focus on the use of hiring as a form of bribery.
Over a seven-year period, between 2006 and 2013, JP Morgan Chase hired nearly 100 employees and interns referred by government officials at 20 different state-owned businesses in China, officials said.
