JPMorgan Chase & Co was subpoenaed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for all of the firm’s communications related to 35 Chinese government officials, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.
Wang Qishan (王岐山), who is leading China’s anti-corruption campaign, is among people whose names are listed in the subpoena issued late last month, according to the Journal, which said it reviewed the document.
The US Department of Justice, which is probing the bank’s hiring of relatives and associates of government officials, also requested information about him, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Regulators are not investigating the officials themselves, and there is no evidence that Wang, who did not respond to a request for comment, or others on the list engaged in wrongdoing, the Journal said.
Other names include Chinese Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun (郭聲琨) and People’s Bank of China Vice Governor Pan Gongsheng (潘功勝), according to the Journal.
Brian Marchiony, a spokesman at New York-based JPMorgan, and the SEC’s John Nester, declined to comment.
The US opened a probe more than 18 months ago to determine whether firms, including JPMorgan, violated anti-graft laws by hiring sons and daughters of powerful Chinese business leaders — sometimes referred to as “princelings” — to generate business. No charges have been brought.
In November 2013, the New York Times reported that a consultancy firm operated by former Chinese premier Wen Jiabao’s (溫家寶) daughter, Wen Ruchun (溫如春), who often goes by the name Lily Chang, had been paid US$1.8 million by JPMorgan.
The payment has become one of the targets of an inquiry by US authorities into the activities of JPMorgan in China, including an examination of the firm’s hiring practices, which are alleged to have included the deliberate targeting of relatives of influential officials.
Additional reporting by the Guardian
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