Posted on 02/02/2020 1:29:09 PM PST by FreedomPoster
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2016-241
Washington D.C., Nov. 17, 2016 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that JPMorgan Chase & Co. has agreed to pay more than $130 million to settle SEC charges that it won business from clients and corruptly influenced government officials in the Asia-Pacific region by giving jobs and internships to their relatives and friends in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
JPMorgan also is expected to pay $72 million to the Justice Department and $61.9 million to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors for a total of more than $264 million in sanctions resulting from the firm’s referral hiring practices.
According to an SEC order issued today, investment bankers at JPMorgan’s subsidiary in Asia created a client referral hiring program that bypassed the firm’s normal hiring process and rewarded job candidates referred by client executives and influential government officials with well-paying, career-building JPMorgan employment. During a seven-year period, JPMorgan hired approximately 100 interns and full-time employees at the request of foreign government officials, enabling the firm to win or retain business resulting in more than $100 million in revenues to JPMorgan.
“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 J. Ceresney, Director of the SEC Enforcement Division. “JPMorgan employees knew the firm was potentially violating the FCPA yet persisted with the improper hiring program because the business rewards and new deals were deemed too lucrative.”
Kara Brockmeyer, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s FCPA Unit, added, “The misconduct was so blatant that JPMorgan investment bankers created ‘Referral Hires vs Revenue’ spreadsheets to track the money flow from clients whose referrals were rewarded with jobs. The firm’s internal controls were so weak that not a single referral hire request was denied.”
The SEC’s order finds that JPMorgan violated the anti-bribery, books and records, and internal controls provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. JPMorgan agreed to pay $105,507,668 in disgorgement plus $25,083,737 in interest to settle the SEC’s case. The SEC considered the company’s remedial acts and its cooperation with the investigation when determining the settlement.
The SEC’s continuing investigation is being conducted by Neil Smith and Paul Block of the FCPA Unit and Rory Alex and Martin Healey of the Boston Regional Office. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Fraud Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
tl;dr: The Obama Administration prosecuted JP Morgan and fined them $264 million for doing what Burisma did with Joe and Hunter Biden.
At least the SEC is not afraid to call it what it is.
Good find!
Excellent point.
Thanks!
Archive link in case the SEC link goes bad in the future. You never know.
This was going on in Asia since the late 70’s. I was friends with a lot of the US bankers in HKG and SIN. They talked openly about it. Their govt financial contacts helped us get financing for sales of US goods. Eurobanks still doing it.
Oopsie!
This could implicate much of the Swamp leadership
They need to name the politicians they paid off.
I think you may have it wrong that this investigation will link to Joe and Hunter. IIRC, this is the tail end of an old investigation about US companies bribing the Chinese by hiring Chinese princelings. The Biden bribes run in the other direction.
Also, it’s likely partly the usual government extortion of banks and other moneyed interests who are just doing business overseas the way their competition is.
I don’t see how this particular investigation links to the Bidens, although they are doing something very similar: selling state favors for employment of US children.
In fact, one could even guess that this investigation could be used just as easily to foreclose others as to open others. “JP Morgan paid $264 million... corruption case closed.”
Article dated 11/2016
I don’t think this links to them. I think Bidens will get investigated and prosecuted over Burisma, and the Left will scream like stuck pigs that they did nothing wrong. This is an example of the Obama Administration prosecuting JP Morgan Chase for doing exactly what Burisma did with the Bidens.
We agree then.
I thought you (and certainly some later posters) were thinking this case would link to and force open the Biden case. I think this case is its own self contained corporate shakedown.
And, that hopefully a Biden/Burisma investigation will be opened, but it will be a separate initiative.
As you say, there will be loud screaming from the Left if this occurs.
And, again, the point is that the Obama Administration did here what needs to be done by the Trump Administration to Burisma and the Bidens.
The never trumpers are also involved I bet
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