Citi says U.S. regulators are investigating its hiring practices

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)