The former Hong Kong head of investment banking at J.P. Morgan pleaded not guilty to charges that she had offered a job an individual to win over his father, chairman of a logistics firm which was seeking to go public in the city.

Catherine Leung Kar-cheung, 52, allegedly offered Ang Ren-yi – son of Kerry Logistics chairman Ang Keng-lam – a job at JPMorgan Securities (Asia Pacific) in 2010 without undergoing standard vetting processes.

The younger Ang was hired as part of the bank’s «sons and daughters program», also known as the «client referral program» which allows referral of children or relatives of existing or potential clients for training or employment. As part of the recruitment process, referred individuals must go through a multistep process, including vetting by the legal and compliance department to identify conflicts of interest from a hire, which allegedly did not occur prior to Ang receiving the job offer.

This was according to communications exchange where junior staff was seen emailing Leung for more information on family relationships as well as prospective or ongoing business with J.P. Morgan well after Ang signed the job contract on February 2.

«Last Thing I Want is We Go Slow»

In addition to alleged knowledge of Ang’s position and influence alongside his companies listing plans, prosecutors also highlighted Leung’s keenness to hire Ang by expediting the process. According to other emails seen, Leung told J.P. Morgan colleague Kerwin Clayton, then head of industrials, that Ang was keen on the job and had applied to other banks but failed to pass the first round of interviews.

«The last thing I want is we go slow and they ask another bank and I am sure someone will give him a full-time offer given the mandate up for grasp here,» she wrote on January 10. «We can give him an offer.»

Emails also suggested the younger Ang had a GPA of 3.2, which prosecutors said was below the company standard of 3.4.

Not Guilty

Leung pleaded not guilty over the two counts of offering an advantage to an agent, highlighting that she did not offer the job in secret and that she had informed senior management of hiring Ang, which they did not object.

A junior resources manager, Angela Hu, who has been granted immunity from prosecution to testify, said that she had no knowledge if the legal and compliance department had approved Leung’s referral but added that it was not necessary for permanent positions such as Ang’s.