Deutsche Bank Hired Relatives of Russian, Chinese Officials In Return For Business: SEC

Deutsche Bank has been accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission  of hiring the relatives of Russian and Chinese government officials in order to steer business to the bank. The Washington Post reports that an order filed by the SEC outlines several alleged violations of the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by the bank between 2006 and 2014. In one case, the bank hired the daughter of a high-ranking official at a Russian government entity that it had struggled to secure work with in the past. “We must do it!” a senior Deutsche Bank official said in response to the prospect of hiring the daughter, the SEC said. The daughter was offered a full-time job in the bank’s London office, and the official sent a proposal to the bank for a bond deal worth over $2 billion. The bank also allegedly hired the son of a chairman at a Chinese state-owned enterprise, even though the son was rejected twice for the role. According to the SEC, the son was hired after a high-level Deutsche executive weighed in. The bank settled with the SEC for $16 million, though it did not admit any wrongdoing. “Deutsche Bank provided substantial cooperation to the SEC in its inquiry and has implemented numerous measures to improve the bank’s hiring practices,” the bank told the Post in a statement.