When the Securities and Exchange Commission has finished proving that companies (even banks!) hire people for their connections (even in China!) it can move on to the movements of bears in woods or the religious persuasion of famous Catholics.

The real story behind JPMorgan’s hiring of so-called Chinese princelings is not nepotism but rather the pressure banks are under to justify their investment in Asia. Simply put, there are not enough deals, western banks are struggling to win mandates and the cost of hiring local hotshots is blowing out costs.

For example, HK and China contributed just 5 per cent of total global investment banking fees in the first half of 2013, according to Thomson Reuters data. In mergers and acquisitions, JPMorgan made $480m in fees worldwide over the same period. Less than $50m of that was from all of Asia-Pacific. No wonder banks are doing everything they can to drum up business.