JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), the largest U.S. bank by assets, fell to the lowest intraday price in almost seven weeks, after the New York Times reported U.S. regulators are looking into whether the bank hired the children of Chinese officials to help boost its business in China.
The shares slid as low as $52.39, the lowest intraday price since July 3, and were trading $52.69, down 1.2 percent at 10:01 a.m. in New York today.
According the report, the bank hired the son of a former Chinese banking regulator who is currently chairman of China Everbright Group Ltd., a state-controlled financial company, while its Hong Kong office employed a Chinese railway official’s daughter.
After each appointment, the bank secured assignments from companies connected to the new hires’ parents, the paper reported, citing a confidential U.S. government document.
The New York Times report said it is common for global companies to hire the children of Chinese politicians, but that it's unusual for a company to hire the children of officials of state-controlled companies.
JPMorgan is also focused to resolve U.S. and U.K investigations after mishandled trades by its chief investment office caused more than $6.2 billion of losses last year.
JPMorgan has rallied 21 percent since the beginning of the year through Aug. 16, leaving the bank with a market value of $197.93 billion.