The US authorities are believed to be scrutinising the hiring practices of banking giant J P Morgan Chase in India, South Korea and Singapore following a probe into its activities in China regarding hiring children of powerful officials to win lucrative business deals.
A report in The New York Times said that the federal investigation into the hiring practices of JPMorgan Chase appears to be expanding beyond China into other Asian markets.
In a filing with Securities and Exchange Commission, the bank disclosed that the federal regulator and the Justice Department were now looking into “its business relationships with certain related clients in the Asia Pacific region and its engagement of consultants in the Asia Pacific region.”
While JPMorgan did not specify the countries where the inquiries were directed, the NYT report cited people briefed on the matter as saying that government authorities are examining JPMorgan's hiring practices throughout Asia, focusing on South Korea, Singapore and India.
The scrutiny comes after JPMorgan itself flagged those countries for further review, the people said.
The investigations into the Asian markets are still in “fledgling stages”, the report said, adding that Hong Kong and British authorities are also investigating the bank’s hiring practices.
JPMorgan said it is “cooperating with these investigations.”
“It is unclear whether authorities suspect improper activity in these regions beyond China, or are simply placing a marker for a possible broader investigation. Either way, though, the global focus signals a fresh challenge for the bank and an escalation of the inquiry,” the NYT report said.The latest investigation into JP Morgan's activities comes just days after the US banking giant entered into a $ 13 billion settlement.