Embarrassing: An IPO application JPMorgan worked on got rejected in Hong Kong
The Financial Times reports that the bank has ended up on HKEx's public list of banks and companies that have performed inadequate work on IPO applications, a list it says is known as the "name and shame" register.
JPMorgan is the first global bank on the list, according to the report. HKEx set the list up in mid-2014 to improve transparency after a series of scandals, so it's quite possible other banks have failed to pass muster but we just don't know about it.
JPMorgan declined to comment when contacted by BI.
The bank found itself in on the list after an IPO application it worked on for Chinese pharmaceutical company Shenhua Health Holdings was returned by the stock exchange operator.
The application was not rejected outright though and Shenhua Health Holdings can reapply after 8 weeks. It was applying to list on GEM, the high-growth market that's equivalent to AIM in the UK.
HKEx, Asia's third largest stock market, says in a general comment on application rejections given to the FT that IPO applications are often knocked back because of "insufficient financial information, failure to include important information and failure to address the exchange's guidance given at pre-IPO enquiries stage."
A source close to the process who did not want to be named told BI that the rejection of the application related to disclosure rather than any due diligence undertaken.
The FT speculates that inclusion on the list could hit JPMorgan's business there, quoting an unnamed local lawyer as saying: "You don't want to be publicly featured as a sponsor on this list. Competitors will inevitably use this against them."
IPO shaming isn't the only issue for JPMorgan in Asia - the bank is one of several lenders facing a US investigation into hiring practices in Asia. The probe deals with whether the bank gave jobs to Chinese government officials' children in return for lucrative banking assignments.