Hong Kong stock exchange boss brushes off WSJ report that he hired princelings at JP Morgan China

Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (HKEx) chief executive Charles Li Xiaojia on Monday brushed off allegations by The Wall Street Journal that as chairman of JP Morgan China, he had recommended the bank employ children and acquaintances of mainland officials.

“Eight years have passed since the events referred to in the Wall Street Journal’s article and it is impossible for me to recall specific aspects of the JP Morgan internship programme and particular referral hiring decisions,” he said in a statement.

“I left JP Morgan Chase China in 2009 but I can recall that there was a formal process in place within the bank for dealing with these matters which I followed. This included a thorough screening process involving the bank’s legal and compliance teams and offers were made on the basis of a review of the applicants’ credentials and feedback from multiple sources, not on the opinion or decision of any one individual person within JP Morgan.”

According to the Journal’s unidentified sources, emails written by Li, chairman of JP Morgan China from 2003 to 2009, surfaced because of a US bribery investigation into the bank.

Li has not been interviewed or questioned in relation to the investigation, the Journal’s sources said.

In a separate statement, HKEx chairman Chow Chung-kong said: “We note today’s report in The Wall Street Journal. As it concerns issues at JP Morgan Chase China before our chief executive, Charles Li, joined HKEx in October 2009, we are not in a position to comment. Under Charles Li’s leadership and through a number of important and strategic initiatives, HKEx has substantially grown its business. As far as we are aware, this story does not have any bearing on Mr Li’s role at HKEx and its business.”