A former official at a non-bank subsidiary of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has agreed to a permanent prohibition from banking after allegedly offering internships and other jobs to persons referred by foreign officials in order to obtain improper business advantages to his company, the Federal Reserve said Thursday.
Timothy Fletcher, a former managing director at J.P. Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) in Hong Kong, signed the consent agreement with the Fed. He is also required to cooperate in any pending or future enforcement actions against any other persons affiliated with his former firm.
According to the consent agreement, Fletcher – while working for the firm between at least 2008 until 2013, running the firm’s referral hiring program – engaged “in unsafe and unsound practices, breaches of fiduciary duty, and violations of law related to his involvement in the Firm’s referral hiring program for the Asia-Pacific region investment bank, whereby candidates who were referred, directly or indirectly, by foreign government officials and existing or prospective commercial clients were offered internships, training, and other employment opportunities in order to obtain improper business advantages.”
During that time, the agreement states, the company’s internal policies prohibited its employees from giving anything of value, “including the offer of internships or training, to certain individuals, including relatives of public officials and relatives and associates of non-government corporate representatives,” in order to obtain improper business advantages for the organization.
The company, the Fed said, suffered financial loss and other damages as a result of the program and Fletcher’s actions, which “demonstrated willful or continuing disregard for the safety and soundness of the Firm.”
The Fed noted that it previously fined the firm $61.9 million relating to the hiring program. In addition, the Fed said, the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission have also fined the firm for $72 million and $130 million, respectively.