JPMorgan was alerted of hiring concerns in China before U.S. probe: WSJ

A sign outside the headquarters of JP Morgan Chase & Co in New York, September 19, 2013. REUTERS/Mike Segar

(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co executives in New York were aware of potential problems tied to its recruitment practices in China well before U.S. regulators launched a probe into the issue, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources and documents it reviewed. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is examining the extent to which JPMorgan executives at its headquarters were involved in overseas hiring, the report said. A JPMorgan executive in Asia alerted the bank's New York officials in 2011 of concerns that the bank had hired a son or daughter of a senior Chinese government official, a recruitment that helped it win an investment-banking assignment, according to company emails reviewed by the Journal. JPMorgan officials proposed changes to its hiring practices in Asia and the changes formed a part of a set of anticorruption measures approved by its board directors on the bank's audit committee in late 2011, according to the report. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon also knew of the anticorruption measures as they were unveiled, according to the report. U.S. authorities have not accused the bank of any wrongdoings yet. A JPMorgan spokesman declined to comment on the story. (Reporting by Amrutha Gayathri in Bangalore; Editing by Savio D'Souza)