With JPMorgan Chase facing scrutiny over its hiring in China, the New York Times is raising questions about a worker who is a family friend of a Chinese insurance regulator. In June 2012, when JPMorgan was looking for work with Chinese insurance firms, CEO Jamie Dimon met with the regulator, Xiang Junbo, according to an email and interviews by the Times. The translator at the meeting was Xiang's family friend, and Xiang had been trying for a month to get her a job at JPMorgan. During the meeting, Xiang asked Dimon to hire her as a "favor," the email said.
Dimon reportedly said his company would "do what we can." The applicant ended up with a specially created internship and then a full-time job, insiders tell the Times. Following the meeting, JPMorgan was involved in several deals with companies overseen by Xiang. A bank spokesman says Dimon "played no role in the hiring decision." Separately, Dimon last year received a 74% pay raise—in a year when his company forked over $20 billion amid federal charges, the Washington Post recently reported. His $20 million pay is now earning criticism from Sen. Elizabeth Warren. "Jamie Dimon got a raise after he negotiated $17 billion to pay for activities that were illegal that he presided over. So I'm not quite sure how this is a deterrent for other CEOs," she said, per CNBC. (More Jamie Dimon stories.)