A view of the exterior of the Citibank corporate headquarters in New York, New York, U.S. May 20, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar/Files (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc (C.N) on Friday said that U.S. government and regulatory agencies are investigating the bank’s hiring practices. U.S. agencies, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, are looking into whether or not the bank hired candidates "referred by or related to foreign government officials" over other candidates, the filing said. (bit.ly/2mmiCe4) “Citigroup is cooperating with the investigations and inquiries,” the company said in the filing with the SEC. JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) agreed to pay $264 million in November to resolve allegations that it hired relatives of Chinese officials in order to win banking deals. Reporting by Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru; editing by Grant McCool
Citigroup is under investigation by US government and regulatory agencies, including the US Securities and Exchange Commission, over whether the lender hired candidates "referred by or related to foreign government officials" over other candidates. The bank has also been accused of using a special program known as "slush funds" in which it paid off politicians who were then appointed to senior positions at the bank.