Several executives at JP Morgan Chase in New York were warned of potential problems related to the bank’s hiring practices in China more than a year before the program came under scrutiny by the US government, according to people familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

A bank official in Asia alerted legal and compliance executives in New York in 2011 of anonymous accusations that the bank's recruitment of a prominent son or daughter of a senior Chinese official helped it win an investment-banking assignment, according to company emails reviewed by the Journal. JP Morgan officials later discussed those accusations, and changes were proposed to the region's hiring practices, according to the emails.