Jpmorgan employee said to be insider leak

A JPMORGAN Chase employee in Japan was found to have leaked insider information connected to Nippon Sheet Glass’s 2010 share sale, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.

The sources declined to provide any further details and JPMorgan’s spokeswoman in Tokyo, Yukako Yoshino, declined to comment.

Japanese regulators have been investigating trades associated with stock offerings in response to criticism that leaks on financing plans were eroding investors’ confidence.

The news of wrongdoing by the JPMorgan employee comes to light less than three weeks after the bank disclosed losses of at least $2bn at its London unit due to bets on illiquid credit derivatives, causing its share price to fall 18% since then.

JPMorgan said it was co- operating fully with the authorities on the matter, though it would not confirm that one of its employees was involved.

The bank “has not received any indication from the authorities that suggests JPMorgan’s involvement, either by the company as a whole, or by any department as a whole”, it said in a statement on its website following Japan’s Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission’s announcement that it was investigating. “We take this matter extremely seriously and will continue to take measures to enhance our internal control,” the bank said.

Daiwa Securities Group, Japan’s second-largest brokerage, and New Yorkbased JPMorgan were the two joint global co-ordinators on the deal, the commission said yesterday. Its officials declined to comment on whether JPMorgan was the source of the leaked information.

Daiwa was not involved in the insidertrading activity, Akihiro Honda, a spokesman for the brokerage, said.

The commission recommended the Financial Services Agency impose a ¥130 000 fine against Asuka Asset Management.

Separately it also recommended a ¥80 000 fine for Chuo Mitsui Asset Trust & Banking, a unit of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings. Bloomberg