JPMorgan Chase in new scandal involving insurance regulator chief

JPMorgan Chase is embroiled in another scandal involving top mainland officials and jobs for well-connected individuals.

China Insurance Regulatory Commission chairman Xiang Junbo had asked JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon to do him a "favour" by hiring a young job applicant, a family friend of Xiang, who now worked at the bank, The New York Times reported yesterday, citing a confidential JPMorgan e-mail.

US authorities were investigating whether the hiring at JPMorgan was done explicitly to win business from mainland companies, the newspaper reported. At least six other Wall Street firms had also received requests for information related to their hiring, it said.

JPMorgan said Dimon had nothing to do with the decision to hire the young woman, described within the bank as well qualified, the report said.

President Xi Jinping began a campaign to combat corruption and other irregularities after he became Communist Party general secretary in autumn 2012, leading to a string of probes and arrests of senior mainland officials.

"Xi's campaign against corruption seems to have popular support," said Basil Hwang, a Hong Kong-based partner at Zhong Lun, a mainland law firm. "Personal relationships have always been important in business, but under the current regulatory environment, undoubtedly, officials are going to be especially careful not to do favours in return for personal advantage."