(Photo : China Everbright Bank)

August 19^th, Everbright Bank issued an announcement to response the rumor about JPMorgan hiring the son of Everbright's high-level executive. The announcement clarifies the process of hiring JPMorgan as Everbright's underwriter was open and transparent, and there was no so-called issue of passing favors.

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A few days ago, New York Times reported that Federal authorities have opened a bribery investigation into whether JPMorgan Chase hired the children of powerful Chinese officials to help the bank win lucrative business in China. According to this report, JPMorgan Chase hired the son of a former Chinese banking regulator who is now the chairman of the China Everbright Group. After the chairman's son started working, JPMorgan secured multiple coveted assignments from the Chinese conglomerate, including advising a subsidiary of the company on a stock offering.

In response to the news, Everbright said in its announcement that Everbright's Hong Kong IPO was a major event for Everbright Bank. And the bank was extremely cautious when choosing to hire JPMorgan Chase to underwrite its initial public offering in Hong Kong. The choice was not linked to JPMorgan having hired the son of the chairman of Everbright Group. Everbright Band just wanted to choose the best investment band to ensure the success of Everbright's Hong Kong IPO.

Everbright said the process of hiring JPMorgan was open and transparent. The bank chose JPMorgan as one among nine underwriters from a shortlist of 20 Chinese and foreign investment banks. In addition, Morgan Stanley, UBS, BNP Paribas, China International Capital Corporation Limited (CICC) and BOC International etc. were also chosen to be in the underwriting team for Everbright's IPO.

So far, Everbright Bank hasn't paid any fees to its underwriting team including JPMorgan. Furthermore, it is known that the son of Chang Shuangning, the chairman of Everbright Group, has left JPMorgan since last year. Therefore, the so-called "nepotism" played no role in the process of hiring JPMorgan.