JP Morgan agreed to pay $264 million to resolve civil and criminal charges that violated a foreign corruption law by trying to win business by hiring the relatives of powerful government officials in Asia.

The accord, announced Thursday, includes a non-prosecution deal with the Justice Department and settlements with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Reserve. It comes after a multiyear, high-profile investigation into the bank's hiring practices that had called into question whether the US government was threatening to criminalise standard business practices in some countries.