J.P.Morgan’s former banker Catherine Leung pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery in a Hong Kong court on Thursday.

Catherine Leung is alleged to have offered employment to the son of the chairman of a logistics company as a reward for the chairman favoring J.P. Morgan when choosing banks to work on the company’s IPO. 

The previous Asia investment banking vice-chair pleaded not guilty to charges pressed by Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in May, «Reuters» reported. She left J.P. Morgan in February 2015 amid a wider reshuffle in the bank's regional leadership.

Prosecutor Proposed To Merge Cases

In a related case, the U.S. Federal Reserve banned former J.P. Morgan managing director, Timothy Fletcher, from the industry for life, in February, for his role in the hiring program. Fletcher had worked in the bank's Hong Kong office. 

The prosecutor in Leung's case, Glen Kong, asked the judge on Thursday to consider merging the case with that of another ongoing investigation as the two share a similar witness list. However, Judge WK Kwok did not make a decision about merging the two cases on Thursday.

Trial in February

No arrests have been made in the other case but the suspect, currently in mainland China, is likely to return to Hong Kong, the prosecutor said.

Leung did not comment when approached by «Reuters» outside the courtroom. The trial for the case has been set to start on February 25, 2020, and will continue for eight days.