Another Kind Of Bribe?

The New York Times reports that the SEC’s anti-bribery unit is investigating JPMorgan Chase in China for possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The bank hired young family members of influential businessmen from companies, and the companies then sent lucrative business to the bank. Nothing is proven or even charged at this point, but the circumstances will raise the most stolid of eyebrows. E.g., after JPMorgan hired the son of the chairman of China Everybright Group, it was retained by China Everbright for two major transactions, including China’s largest-ever private equity deal.