- International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities http://www.iaaca.org/ (simon peh attend the executive meeting)
- united nations convention against corruption
- european civil convention on corruption
- protocol against corruption of 13 states that are members of southern africa development community
- Oecd anti corruption action plan for asia and pacific
- inter american convention against corruption
- The International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA)is a young institution based in Laxenburg (Vienna),Austria. It has a unique dual character, being an international organization and a post-secondary educational institution, established underinternational law. IACA seeks to overcome shortcomings in knowledge and practice in the field of anti-corruption, and empower professionals for the challenges of tomorrow. Its constituency comprises 64 UN Member States and 3 international organizations. http://www.iaca.int
G20
- http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1639218/beijing-denies-blocking-g20-graft-initiative-shell-companies-and-hidden The government yesterday denied corruption activists' accusations that it is blocking an agreement on corporate transparency at the upcoming G20 summit in Brisbane, which President Xi Jinping will attend. Beijing has been waging a high-profile anti-corruption drive and it secured broad support for an international anti-graft declaration at the Apec meeting it hosted this week. But according to the Berlin-based group Transparency International, China has rejected draft principles on "beneficial ownership" that Australia had hoped to unveil at this weekend's summit.
The term means holding assets under another's name, making them harder to trace.
university center- Sussex Centre for the Study of Corruption' (SCSC) http://www.sussex.ac.uk/scsc/
law firm
- eversheds
http://www.eversheds.com/global/en/index.page
https://www.britcham.com/taxonomy/term/1286/0
- silk road chambers
http://www.silkroadchamberslimited.com/us/home/
http://www.amcham.org.hk/events/eventdetail/1427/-/the-uk-bribery-act-the-growing-international-reach-of-uk-law-enforcement-and-its-implications-for-businesses-in-the-usa-asia-and-hong-kong
- Mayer Brown (Richard Tollan http://www.mayerbrown.com/people/Richard-M-Tollan/ and Jennifer Colegate http://www.mayerbrown.com/people/Jennifer-Colegate/), scmp news report in March 2014 below
-Partnerships aid global investigations
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/89ca34da-e734-11e3-88be-00144feabdc0.html#axzz34PNusibC
- freshfields http://www.freshfields.com/en/insights/Global_Investigations_webinar_programmes/, http://www.freshfields.com/en/insights/global_investigations/, http://www.legalweek.com/legal-week/news/1590410/freshfields-launches-international-investigations-practice-regulatory-concerns-rise
global intelligence
- https://www.parr-global.com
ngo
- http://www.economist.com/news/business/21676701-global-initiative-bring-more-transparency-oil-gas-and-mining-turning-point-efforts Light is the best disinfectant, say anti-corruption campaigners—and many think the best hope for greater transparency lies with an emerging global standard known as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which has grown to include 48 members (either compliant or candidate countries) since it was formed 12 years ago. But the EITI has reached a crossroads: it must now choose either to push ahead with bold disclosure requirements first floated in 2013, or back away under pressure from those who argue that revealing the true (“beneficial”) owners of companies involved in extractive deals with the state is tricky. This was to be discussed at a gathering of the EITI’s “multi-stakeholder” board—including representatives from NGOs, companies and governments—which was due to finish on October 22nd, after The Economist went to press.
- sunlight foundation
http://sunlightfoundation.com/tools/
international case
- The Lockheed bribery scandals encompassed a series of bribes and contributions made by officials of U.S. aerospace company Lockheed from the late 1950s to the 1970s in the process of negotiating the sale of aircraft.The scandal caused considerable political controversy in West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan.
- The Panama scandals (also known as the Panama Canal Scandal or Panama Affair) was a corruption affair that broke out in the French Third Republic in 1892, linked to the building of the Panama Canal. Close to half a billion francs were lost when the French government took bribes to keep quiet about the Panama Canal Company's financial troubles in what is regarded as the largest monetary corruption scandal of the 19th century. On 4 February 1889, the Tribunal Civil de la Seineordered the winding up of the Panama Canal Company in Paris. Work on the isthmus was stopped in the meantime, while the court-appointed liquidator arranged to maintain the existing buildings, tools and machinery. Within a few years, however, high losses were incurred due to the damp, warm climate. The French government delayed the liquidation further and further, because the take-over offers by various American companies seemed insufficient. An intermediate company could not be started for lack of capital. The liquidator appointed a commission of inquiry, whose 1890 report recommended continuation of the sluice canal and renewal of the 1878 contract with Colombia. This was agreed on in 1890 in Bogotá, to run until 1904. The dimensions of the bankruptcy were clear by 1892. Some 800,000 French people, including 15,000 single women, had lost their investments in the stocks, bonds and founder shares of the Panama Canal Company, to the considerable sum of approximately 1.8 billion gold Francs. From the nine stock issues, the Panama Canal Company received 1.2 billion gold Francs, 960 million of which were invested in Panama, a large amount having been pocketed by financiers and politicians.
- ?????? 中远海控（01919）和东方海外（00316）联合公布，收购东方海外的要约已完成美国反垄断审查。截至昨日，有关要约仍需通过中国商务部及欧盟反垄断审查，并需取得国家发改委备案等。另外，中远海控回应外电查询时指，集装箱运输行业仍需经歷长期的收购、併购和整合过程。中远海控和东方海外共同表示，要约收购东方海外涉及、根据经修订的1976年《美国哈特─斯科特─罗迪诺反垄断改进法》相关规定下的美国反垄断审查所适用的等候期已经届满，反映已完成美国反垄断审查。中远海控接受外电採访时重申，收购东方海外能进一步扩充船队运力计提升经营效率。此外，该公司希望建立一个中欧陆海快速投资公司（China-Europe Land-Sea Express Investment Co.），推动沿线火车站发展。另方面，为强化欧洲服务网，长荣海运宣布，将与中远集运及阳明海运共同投船，联合经营欧洲─地中海快捷航线（EMX），为该区域主要港口提供直航服务。据介绍，该组定期航线将于11月27日自荷兰鹿特丹港启航，途径费里克斯托、汉堡、安特卫普、卡萨布兰加、比雷港等港口。长荣海运表示，三方计划投入五艘4250标箱的集装箱船，当中长荣、阳明各投入一艘，中远提供三艘。http://paper.takungpao.com/resfile/PDF/20171024/PDF/b2_screen.pdf
- https://www.ft.com/content/1e2b3ef1-9e3a-319b-b631-8bc8737e6479 US authorities on Monday revealed the arrest of two former top officials from Hong Kong and Senegal on charges of participating in a “multi-year, multimillion-dollar scheme” to bribe officials in Chad and Uganda on behalf of a Chinese energy conglomerate. The statement from the US Attorney’s Office for Manhattan said Patrick Ho Chi-ping, former home secretary of Hong Kong and head of a non-governmental organisation funded by the Chinese conglomerate, and Cheikh Gadio, a former foreign minister of Senegal, had been arrested and charged with violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, international money laundering and conspiracy to commit both. “In an international corruption scheme that spanned the globe, Chi Ping Patrick Ho and Cheikh Gadio allegedly conspired to bribe African government officials on behalf of a Chinese energy conglomerate,” said acting Manhattan US attorney Joon H Kim. “Wiring almost a million dollars through New York’s banking system in furtherance of their corrupt schemes, the defendants allegedly sought to generate business through bribes paid to the President of Chad and the Ugandan Foreign Minister.” The conglomerate is not named in the announcement and is described only as a “Shanghai-headquartered multibillion-dollar conglomerate that operates internationally in the energy and financial sectors” that holds “Special Consultative Status” with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
- 英國監察組織環境調查社（EIA）上月聲稱，一間中國的伐木公司涉嫌持續賄賂非洲國家加蓬及剛果共和國多名部長，以圖謀取利益，並從兩國轉移數百萬美元的未繳稅款，違反林業法律。加蓬上周五將涉事公司停牌，並就事件展開調查。報告亦指，非法砍伐的木材已經流入美國及歐洲市場，令消費者誤信所購產品符合環保標準。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20190414/00180_003.html
UK
- uk bribery act 2010
- http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1641600/nowhere-hide-bribery-laws
- http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20150919/00180_013.html 英國傳媒今年二月曾放蛇，假扮來自香港的公關公司人員，揭露英國執政保守黨前外相聶偉敬及工黨前外相施仲宏，稱可運用影響力助商界疏通人脈，謀取利益。事件震驚英國政壇，惟國會下議院標準事務委員會經調查後，前日發表報告，指二人並無違規，惹來嘩然。
- https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48048596 The proposed merger between Sainsbury's and Asda has been blocked by the UK's competition watchdog over fears it would raise prices for consumers. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also said it would raise prices at the supermarkets' petrol stations and lead to longer checkout queues.
- 英國競爭與市場管理局（CMA）周一宣布，正調查美國科技公司Google收購大數據分析公司Looker Data Sciences的交易，以確定該次交易會否造成壟斷。CMA指，公眾可於本月二十日或之前，對此案發表意見。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20191204/00180_004.html
- 英國競爭與市場管理局周三在一份報告中指出，美國科技巨企Google及社交網Facebook在英國的網上廣告市場佔有壟斷性的地位，當局擬加強規管網上平台的行為和加強人們對個人資料的控制。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20191220/00180_021.html
france
- 法國總統馬克龍親信、國民議會議長費朗（Richard Ferrand）因七年前一宗物業交易涉嫌財務不當，周四被檢察官正式控以利益衝突。五十七歲的費朗被指在擔任布列塔尼醫療互助保險公司負責人期間，協助拍檔杜桑（Sandrine Doucen）獲得一份利潤豐厚的物業租賃項目。有關案件在一七年被揭發，費朗當時被迫辭任地區發展部長，惟布列塔尼法院其後裁定沒有起訴根據，費朗之後獲任命為國民議會議長。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20190914/00180_026.html
australia
- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-banks-cartel-explainer/australia-opens-fire-on-alleged-banking-cartels-idUSKCN1J10OV Australia’s anti-cartel laws have come to global attention with the country’s competition watchdog lodging criminal charges for alleged cartel behavior against two global investment banks, in a move one expert called “almost unique”.Deutsche Bank AG and Citigroup Inc denied wrongdoing, with the latter saying the regulator was effectively criminalizing practices long seen as the norm in the financial industry.
japan
- Shipbuilding Scandal of 1954
korea
- http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/754528b4-320d-11e6-8825-ef265530038e.html South Korea’s sweeping anti-corruption legislation is facing a business backlash over fears that strict public sector limits on accepting expensive dinners and gifts could further damp sluggish domestic consumption. The legislation, due to come into force in September, is designed to address a thinly veiled culture of bribery among South Korean civil servants, schoolteachers and journalists. Generous hospitality, meals and presents are often seen as a normal part of business in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
- https://www.ft.com/content/11b3f736-2aec-11ea-bc77-65e4aa615551 South Korea’s parliament has passed a controversial bill to set up an agency dedicated to investigating corruption among high-ranking officials, despite strong resistance from the main opposition party and conservative groups. The establishment of the anti-corruption agency was President Moon Jae-in’s biggest election campaign promise, in a bid to reform the country’s judicial system amid widespread public distrust of state prosecutors. The prosecutors’ office has faced criticism for being at the nexus of political corruption in South Korea. Critics allege it was used as a political tool by former conservative governments to target dissenters. Mr Moon and liberal politicians have long called for the establishment of the agency to probe corruption among high-ranking civil servants including the president, lawmakers, top court justices and state prosecutors. According to a recent survey, about two-thirds of South Koreans support the bill, which curbs the immense power of state prosecutors. However, in recent days the main opposition party tried to block the vote with a filibuster. It boycotted the vote on Monday, arguing that the new agency — which is expected to launch next July — may abuse its power. The ruling party now plans to hold a vote on another bill that aims to rebalance the investigative power between prosecutors and police. Justice minister nominee Choo Mi-ae on Monday vowed to quickly take follow-up measures to help the implementation of the reform bill.
vietnam
- [vasavakul] anticorruption efforts began in early 1990s and were codified in 1998 ordinance on anti-corruption, the 2005 law on anti-corruption, and subsequent revised laws, and vietnam's commitment to UN convention on anti-corruption.
- The Competition Law 2018 now governs any activities whether by Vietnamese or foreign entity or individual which have or may have the “competition restraining impact” to Vietnam market. Competition restraining impact means impact which excludes, reduces, distorts or hinders competition in the market. Under the Competition Law 2018, the competition authority of Vietnam now has clear authority to deal with offshore activities and transactions which has impact on Vietnam market. In addition, the Competition Law 2018 now also apply to public service units such as hospitals, or schools which are technically not enterprises.
https://vietnam-business-law.info/blog/2018/7/30/vietnams-new-competition-law-2018
- The review is taking place in the wake of high-profile revelations of criminal wrongdoing at companies in the city-state, though a spokeswoman for the island-state’s Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said the move was “not connected” to those events. Keppel Corp, which counts state investor Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL] as its largest shareholder, has agreed to pay more than $422 million to resolve probes by U.S., Brazilian and Singapore authorities on charges it bribed Brazilian officials. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-singapore-corruption/singapore-reviewing-anti-graft-law-amid-mounting-calls-to-make-it-tougher-idUSKBN1FC0RJ
malaysia
- https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysia-to-probe-battersea-property-deal-in-london-anwar-ibrahim Malaysia will investigate the Battersea Power Station deal and other major "dubious" property investments in the UK, said Anwar Ibrahim, the de facto leader of ruling coalition Pakatan Harapan. On a working visit to Britain, Datuk Seri Anwar told The Guardian that a series of deals paid for by Malaysian sovereign funds and pension funds and brokered by the previous Barisan Nasional administration had to be looked at again and renegotiated if there was any wrongdoing. "All these deals which are considered dubious, including investments in housing in London, will have to be investigated. Yes, that includes Battersea. Because they were made using state funds. We have to be convinced that this was the right investment decision and that there was no political influence or direction (within Malaysia)," he was quoted as saying.Due to be completed in 2028 with an estimated gross development value of £10 billion (S$18 billion), the Battersea Power Station project is owned by a consortium of Malaysian investors comprising Sime Darby Property Bhd, SP Setia Bhd and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).
- Malaysia’s anti-graft agency is investigating allegations by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) that Airbus paid a bribe of US$50 million to win plane orders from AirAsia, it said on Saturday.The SFO said on Friday that Airbus had failed to prevent individuals associated with it bribing executives linked to AirAsia Group and its long-haul arm, AirAsia X.AirAsia said it had never made any purchase decisions that were premised on an Airbus sponsorship, and that it would fully cooperate with Malaysia’s Anti-Corruption Commission. In a statement, it said it had not been involved with the SFO’s investigation of Airbus or given any opportunity to provide clarification.https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3048559/airasia-denies-corruption-airbus-order-malaysia-probes
- Malaysia's former finance minister Lim Guan Eng was arrested on Thursday (Aug 6) and is set to be charged with corruption in connection to the Penang undersea tunnel project, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said.https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/malaysia-lim-guan-eng-corruption-charges-penang-12997212
china
- rules & reg
- china daily dedicated page http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014crackongraft/
- Anti-graft task forces adding members and publicizing their plans for reform
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-06/17/content_17592192.htm
- China takes anti-corruption drive overseas
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6ec199d0-3cc5-11e4-871d-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3DXTLlVt5
- Bribe case highlights west’s dilemma over China’s overseas probes
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/a90c00e8-3d70-11e4-8797-00144feabdc0.html
- http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1595245/disappearance-ultrasonic-chiefs-taints-china-firms-listed-german
- http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1602643/hong-kong-first-target-chinas-new-pursuit-corrupt-officials
- 貪官爭赴南歐南非http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20141013/00174_001.html
- http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-10/29/content_18818641.htm China will upgrade anti-corruption legislation as it continues a campaign to build a clean government and practice austerity. Anti-graft laws will be introduced into national legislation to construct a better prevention and punishment system, said a key policy document from the Communist Party of China published on Tuesday.
- sports field in anti-corruption spotlight http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-11/05/content_18868217.htm
- http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20150829/00178_003.html中央整治官媒，引發《人民日報》旗下人民網高層地震。官方公布，人民網總裁廖玒、副總裁陳智霞已被檢察機關立案偵查，並採取強制措施（逮捕）。在內地上市的人民網昨日下午停牌，並發聲明指積極配合檢方偵查；海外傳媒則引述消息透露，當局整頓人民網，反腐利劍直指中宣部。
- http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20151025/00176_133.html 內地嚴厲反貪同奉行節約，嚴禁公款吃喝玩樂同送禮，令唔少內地宴會都相當簡樸，不敢再以大魚大肉、鮑參翅肚去宴客，但有時就慳過龍，菜式可以好嚇人。早前內地就有個重要宴會，上枱嘅食物真係估佢唔到，擺放咗盆「乾爭爭」嘅麵包，旁邊只有牛油，連湯都無滴。咁大魚都有條啩？有嘅，但唔係新鮮魚，而係罐頭之中嘅極品「豆豉鯪魚」，上菜時仲依稀見到罐頭嘅形狀添！除咗上述兩味別有風味嘅菜式，我哋仲打探到，席上一個海鮮鍋都經歷幾多變遷。話說未奉行節約風之前，海鮮窩有鮑魚同海參，但近年就變成豬皮、蘿蔔同魚蛋呢啲港式街頭小食。據聞有宴會獲邀人士表達意見後，今年終於成功爭取「魚蛋變蝦丸」，但豬皮同蘿蔔依然在海鮮鍋中浮沉唔肯走。到底點樣可以利用有限嘅金錢，變化出最美味嘅菜式？但咁嘅成本，睇怕連肥媽都未必變得出平靚正菜式喇！
- http://www.chinadailyasia.com/nation/2016-05/13/content_15432272.html A former senior diplomat has been expelled from the Party and transferred to judicial authorities for further investigation. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China announced on its website on Thursday that Zhang Kunsheng, former assistant minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had seriously violated Party rules and undermined the Party's image. Investigations found that Zhang violated the eight-point austerity rules by visiting private clubs or expensive resorts, trading power for sex, and refusing to report personal matters such as true income and assets. Zhang also resisted the commission's investigation, the CCDI statement said. The commission said Zhang had been transferred to judicial authorities on suspicion of taking advantage of his posts to seek gains for others and to take bribes. Zhang, who was born in Shanxi province in 1958, began his diplomatic career at the Foreign Ministry in 1985.
- 馮程淑儀 case hkej 2apr16 a12
- http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20160324/00176_046.html 麗新發展有限公司一名男物業發展主任，涉嫌向租客收賄和索賄，以將一個住宅單位租給對方，並縱容對方分租單位，被廉政公署控以收賄和索賄兩罪。另外，廉署發現另有一名公司董事在租用一間店舖時，亦涉嫌賄賂該名麗新男主任，涉案董事因而亦被控賄賂罪。兩人昨在九龍城法院提堂，均否認控罪，法庭將案押後至五月十八日預審，期間兩人各准以一萬五千元繼續保釋。兩名被告依次是梁桂祺（五十七歲）及黃健國（四十四歲）。梁在案發時是麗新發展的物業主任，負責處理麗新發展聯營公司擁有的店舖和住宅物業之租賃業務；黃則是利興環保有限公司董事兼股東，從事廢金屬回收。
- 路政署總工程監督於一五年建議維修將軍澳隧道公路二百萬元工程時，涉嫌收受該工程分判商的五萬元賄款，而事實上隧道管理公司還未商議進行該工程。廉署發現該工程監督跟分判商一同離港前往內地，回港時身懷五萬元現金，而鈔票上找到分判商的基因。二人昨於觀塘法院分別否認受賄及行賄罪名。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20180110/00176_082.html
- 代理人收受打賞當屬犯法 當事人受聘於一家投資銀行為客戶顧問，負責管理客戶的投資組合。在大約十二年前，當事人首次替一位客戶炒股票賺錢，於是當事人對該客戶說按行規要給予20%利潤作為佣金。這位客戶照辦，分別開了兩張共140萬港元的支票給當事人的弟弟，並有證據顯示當事人最終收到這140萬元。當事人被判「串謀代理人接受利益罪」成立，法官亦強調《防止賄賂條例》中個別條例就是打擊「代理人履行自己分內職務，卻要收取非法/秘密報酬」的不公平和不合理現象。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/finance/20190812/00275_002.html
- 香港應用科技研究院有限公司研究及發展總監劉文建，涉隱瞞自己、妻子和好友直接或間接持有兩間供應商的利益，將應科院七項總值逾五十三萬元的訂單批予該兩間公司，劉更涉嫌親自到零售店購買產品後，以供應商的名義高價轉售給應科院。劉事後否認一項公職人員行為失當罪，以及共七項屬交替控罪的欺詐和企圖欺詐罪，案件昨在沙田法院開審。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20191112/00176_069.html
- 廉政公署落案起 訴意大利名牌 Dolce & Gabbana(D&G)香港分公司前 主席 Michel Didier Raymond Gonzalez，以及魅達網 (香港)的經營者蔣加鋒，在2013年至2016年，將總值 逾 1260 萬元的 D&G 「季尾」貨售予內地一間網上特 賣店，獲取非法回佣共約177萬元。http://hk.hkcd.com/pdf/202005/0522/HA16522CEAA_HKCD.pdf
Macau
- investigstions into network involving john ashe, stanley ho, 何厚, 曾慶紅, jiang zemen epoch times special supp 23mar16
- http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20160507/00176_035.html 澳門特區政府通過澳門基金會向廣州暨南大學提供一億元人民幣建設經費，事件曝光後惹來外界質疑。有內地官媒報道，這是暨大在廣州復辦以來收到數額最大的單筆捐款，並指「現任行政長官崔世安從二○一○年起任暨南大學董事會副董事長」，曾公開多次表示澳門與暨大素有淵源。
http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20171207/00176_010.html
- 澳門生產力暨科技轉移中心被指聘用人員時任人唯親，廉署早前調查發現中心一百零一名員工中，有十多人有親屬關係。廉署昨表示已就事件完成補充調查工作，證實中心在職員工中，有十五人有親屬關係，又指中心過去部分招聘未有對外公開。有學者指，生產力中心作為公營機構，在人員招聘及晉升上必須公平公開，促請當局改善。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20190515/00176_042.html
project
- eu anticorrp http://anticorrp.eu/
website
- http://www.bxffw.com/
New Zealand
- http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/11/world/asia/new-zealand-elections-scandal/index.html
news article
-Nation ratchets up anti-graft efforts http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2014-06/10/content_17574226.htm
-屈政府大茶飯 http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/financeestate/art/20140429/18703915
- center for public integrity report http://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/04/16/14419/how-chinese-offshore-data-became-interactive?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=watchdog&utm_medium=publici-email
- SCMP "The business of whiste-blowing" http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1487548/business-whistle-blowing
- SCMP http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1432456/gsk-rolls-royce-may-be-british-serious-fraud-offices-hit-list
Toh Han Shihhanshih.toh@scmp.com
- SCMP "uk plans to hold corporations to account for crimes of staff" http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1445522/uk-plans-hold-corporations-account-crimes-staff
- The Panama scandals (also known as the Panama Canal Scandal or Panama Affair) was a corruption affair that broke out in the French Third Republic in 1892, linked to the building of the Panama Canal. Close to half a billion francs were lost when the French government took bribes to keep quiet about the Panama Canal Company's financial troubles in what is regarded as the largest monetary corruption scandal of the 19th century. On 4 February 1889, the Tribunal Civil de la Seineordered the winding up of the Panama Canal Company in Paris. Work on the isthmus was stopped in the meantime, while the court-appointed liquidator arranged to maintain the existing buildings, tools and machinery. Within a few years, however, high losses were incurred due to the damp, warm climate. The French government delayed the liquidation further and further, because the take-over offers by various American companies seemed insufficient. An intermediate company could not be started for lack of capital. The liquidator appointed a commission of inquiry, whose 1890 report recommended continuation of the sluice canal and renewal of the 1878 contract with Colombia. This was agreed on in 1890 in Bogotá, to run until 1904. The dimensions of the bankruptcy were clear by 1892. Some 800,000 French people, including 15,000 single women, had lost their investments in the stocks, bonds and founder shares of the Panama Canal Company, to the considerable sum of approximately 1.8 billion gold Francs. From the nine stock issues, the Panama Canal Company received 1.2 billion gold Francs, 960 million of which were invested in Panama, a large amount having been pocketed by financiers and politicians.
- ?????? 中远海控（01919）和东方海外（00316）联合公布，收购东方海外的要约已完成美国反垄断审查。截至昨日，有关要约仍需通过中国商务部及欧盟反垄断审查，并需取得国家发改委备案等。另外，中远海控回应外电查询时指，集装箱运输行业仍需经歷长期的收购、併购和整合过程。中远海控和东方海外共同表示，要约收购东方海外涉及、根据经修订的1976年《美国哈特─斯科特─罗迪诺反垄断改进法》相关规定下的美国反垄断审查所适用的等候期已经届满，反映已完成美国反垄断审查。中远海控接受外电採访时重申，收购东方海外能进一步扩充船队运力计提升经营效率。此外，该公司希望建立一个中欧陆海快速投资公司（China-Europe Land-Sea Express Investment Co.），推动沿线火车站发展。另方面，为强化欧洲服务网，长荣海运宣布，将与中远集运及阳明海运共同投船，联合经营欧洲─地中海快捷航线（EMX），为该区域主要港口提供直航服务。据介绍，该组定期航线将于11月27日自荷兰鹿特丹港启航，途径费里克斯托、汉堡、安特卫普、卡萨布兰加、比雷港等港口。长荣海运表示，三方计划投入五艘4250标箱的集装箱船，当中长荣、阳明各投入一艘，中远提供三艘。http://paper.takungpao.com/resfile/PDF/20171024/PDF/b2_screen.pdf
- https://www.ft.com/content/1e2b3ef1-9e3a-319b-b631-8bc8737e6479 US authorities on Monday revealed the arrest of two former top officials from Hong Kong and Senegal on charges of participating in a “multi-year, multimillion-dollar scheme” to bribe officials in Chad and Uganda on behalf of a Chinese energy conglomerate. The statement from the US Attorney’s Office for Manhattan said Patrick Ho Chi-ping, former home secretary of Hong Kong and head of a non-governmental organisation funded by the Chinese conglomerate, and Cheikh Gadio, a former foreign minister of Senegal, had been arrested and charged with violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, international money laundering and conspiracy to commit both. “In an international corruption scheme that spanned the globe, Chi Ping Patrick Ho and Cheikh Gadio allegedly conspired to bribe African government officials on behalf of a Chinese energy conglomerate,” said acting Manhattan US attorney Joon H Kim. “Wiring almost a million dollars through New York’s banking system in furtherance of their corrupt schemes, the defendants allegedly sought to generate business through bribes paid to the President of Chad and the Ugandan Foreign Minister.” The conglomerate is not named in the announcement and is described only as a “Shanghai-headquartered multibillion-dollar conglomerate that operates internationally in the energy and financial sectors” that holds “Special Consultative Status” with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
- 前聯合國大會主席、烏干達外長庫泰薩（Sam Kutesa）被指是收賄者之一，聯合國秘書長古特雷斯劃清界線，強調任聯大主席的人士應遵照最高的道德標準行事。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20171126/00176_045.html
- 《蘋果》調查揭露涉案的烏干達外長夫人，前年請求何志平為其生意穿針引線，數月後她的公司即與內地大型企業「聯動優勢」簽署合作備忘錄。資料顯示，李嘉誠注資、董建華表妹任董事的維港投資曾經投資聯動優勢。根據美國檢控書內容，捲入受賄風波的烏干達外長庫泰薩及其妻子Edith，過往多次與何志平接觸。其中在2015年3月，Edith向何發電郵，點名表明想接觸一間提供流動支付服務的中國公司，希望將其技術引入烏干達，或者協助她的一間「無現金流動財務平台」公司開發電子車票系統；她又在電郵中請求何為她的公司尋找投資者。本報翻查資料，發現Edith是電子平台M-Cash Uganda的行政總裁，其母公司MobiCash亦有在香港設立辦事處。2015年8月，內地大型金融科技公司「聯動優勢科技」（下稱聯動）宣佈，已在北京與M-Cash簽訂合作備忘錄，由Edith負責簽署，丈夫庫泰薩亦在場見證。新聞稿指，聯動將會在支付服務及金融信息平台等領域上，「為M-Cash提供解決方案和技術支持」。聯動來頭不小，它在2017中國互聯網百強企業中排名第31位，獲官方認可進行互聯網支付服務，現時已擁有80萬個中小企業客戶及4.8億位個人用戶。資料顯示，由香港首富李嘉誠注資的創投公司維港投資，在中國內地的唯一一個投資項目，正是聯動，但網站無說明李嘉誠投資的金額。根據以往報道，維港投資的兩名創辦人分別是周凱旋以及前特首董建華的表妹張培薇。查冊顯示張培薇是維港投資的唯一董事，她曾受訪時也自稱為「好重要角色」。維港投資回應本報查詢時表示，向聯動查證後確認，當年是透過「行業協會人員」促薦商務接洽，聯動與M-Cash簽署無法律約束力的意向書後，至今雙方再沒有任何商務合作或聯繫。維港投資又指，維港的投資項目風險由李嘉誠私人承擔，成功後本利均會撥歸李嘉誠基金會，基金會已於2011年將聯動股份捐予汕頭大學。https://hk.news.appledaily.com/local/daily/article/20171126/20226158
- http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/2121492/uganda-denies-minister-was-bribed-former-hong-kong-home-affairsUganda on Friday rejected US accusations that its foreign minister curried favour with a Chinese energy firm in return for US$500,000 in bribes from Patrick Ho Chi-ping, Hong Kong’s former home affairs secretary now under arrest in the US on corruption charges.
- Uganda's foreign minister is being urged to resign following allegations in the United States that he accepted a bribe shortly after finishing his term as president of the U.N. General Assembly. http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news.php?id=99970&sid=4
- http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2122000/co-defendant-ex-hong-kong-ministers-us-bribery-case-moved A co-defendant in the alleged African bribery scheme implicating former Hong Kong minister Patrick Ho Chi-ping has won his request to be removed from detention, with a US judge placing him under house arrest in Maryland.
- 五男拔及醫科同窗押資產 何志平擔保名單不見官商https://hk.news.appledaily.com/local/daily/article/20171218/20247894
- 涉賄被捕的民政事務局前局長何志平再申請保釋，並披露與烏干達外長庫泰薩夫婦的電郵，間接令收「捐款」機構資料曝光。《蘋果》發現該個被視作掩飾受賄的機構，既無辦事處和電話號碼，連電郵網域都是在收款後才註冊，並在去年棄用；收到50萬美元捐款以來，網上沒任何基金工作資料。根據庫泰薩夫人Edith Kutesa電郵，收捐款的機構是「食物安全及可持續能源基金」，Edith在2016年2月底主動電郵聯絡何志平，提醒對方有關支持其基金的承諾，並附上該基金銀行戶口資料。何志平一方在5月將50萬美元匯至基金戶口，不過庫泰薩在近6個月後才以基金名義發感謝信，再將發信日期追溯至6月10日；信上有基金位於烏干達首都坎帕拉的地址、電話等資料。聯邦調查局在起訴書提到該基金在2015年7月已註冊，但局方在2017年11月派員到場視察，該大樓並無任何屬於該基金的標示，大廈保安亦稱從未聽聞。記者根據信上資料，發現基金地址實為律師樓Capital Partners& Advocates，庫泰薩曾是合夥人。至於基金兩個聯絡電話，一個屬於上述律師樓，另一個則屬於Edith的私人電子支付公司MCash。至於信上的電郵網域的註冊日正是2016年6月10日，與感謝信上日期相同，亦即收到捐款後才註冊。網域在1年後到期，但基金未續期，現轉手至一間餐飲公司。基金稱實行多個可持續發展目標，並為青年提供就業，但基金無網站，網上至今未見工作資料。https://hk.news.appledaily.com/local/daily/article/20180501/20377946
- 《蘋果》發現，控罪書中一位代號「CC-1」的中華能源基金會女員工，就是基金會首席主任張雅。這名《大公報》前記者十多年前曾在內地多次採訪何志平，加入基金會後獲安排出任多個要職，連被當局指向烏干達外長提供的賄款，都是由張雅負責安排匯款。據了解，張雅原為陝西人，曾於《大公報》的西安辦事處工作，她與何志平最早交集在2006至2007年間，當時時任民政事務局長的何志平不時到訪內地，包括率團到西安進行青少年文化交流、出席文化論壇，甚至在北京出席兩會時，張雅都有參與採訪。張雅在2007年4月亦曾專訪何志平，報道題為〈港文化回歸任重道遠〉，何志平在訪問中指香港與內地「榮辱與共、血肉相連」，大談如何加強青少年對國家民族認識及感情。翻查資料，張雅最後一篇《大公報》署名報道見於2007年7月，到2011年3月她再在報章出現，身份已是中華能源基金會的內研及出版處主任。張雅深得何志平重用，中華能源基金會在美國設立分會後，張在2013年起獲安排連續幾年擔任副會長；2014年，張亦在香港分部短暫擔任董事，現時職位則是首席主任，不時陪同何志平出席公開活動。另外，何志平2010年創立的香港中華文化學院，張亦由2013年起擔任董事至今。https://hk.news.appledaily.com/local/daily/article/20180502/20378750
- 他三度申請保釋被拒，早前繞過原訟庭，直接提請上訴法院爭取保釋。美國法院文件顯示，上訴庭將於美國時間本月三十一日開庭審理，但沒列明具體時間，屆時將聽取控辯雙方的理據，再決定是否駁回原訟庭的裁決。另外，負責此案的原訟庭法官突遭撤換，但沒解釋原因。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20180709/00176_028.html
- 傳真社昨日報道，何志平任職中華能源基金會期間，被指以註冊BVI公司與從事能源投資的內地人士合組一間有限公司，但據稱該BVI公司未有按法規申報資產來源。據他們取得的巴拿馬文件中，涉及何志平的註冊離岸公司紀錄，何分別於○八年出任Queensmart Investment Limited（Queensmart）董事，及於一五年出任Beauty Connection Ltd的董事及股東，據報兩間BVI公司均在香港公司註冊處登記。
- 檢察部門與加迪奧代表律師談判多個月後，於上周五向曼哈頓法院入紙，以簡單一頁交代撤銷對加迪奧的控罪。政府未有解釋撤控原因，但《紐約時報》指這安排通常是因為被告同意以供詞換取不被檢控。早前有消息指，加迪奧有意與控方合作，控方更五度押後對他的聆訊。暫未知加迪奧是否確實與檢方達成任何協定。加迪奧的控罪被撤銷，意味何志平十一月要獨自站在被告欄之上。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20180918/00176_053.html
- 控方在周四（11月29日）的第四日聆訊中，披露香港前行政長官董建華家臣、已故中華能源基金會副秘書長路祥安，知悉基金會秘書長何志平曾向乍得總統德比贈送藏有二百萬美元（約一千五百萬港元）的禮盒，並協助調解何志平與污點證人、塞內加爾前外長加迪奧的酬勞爭拗。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20181201/00176_031.html
- 掌管一間流動支付企業的伊迪絲更向何表明，有意與香港八達通公司合作。控方相信何早於二○一四年與庫泰薩聯絡，後來更向對方表示希望以烏干達作為推廣一帶一路的非洲首站，並邀請他到香港，與華信主席葉簡明見面。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20181202/00176_037.html
- 香港民政事務局前局長何志平被控以中華能源基金會秘書長的身份，接觸外國政要行賄，日前於美國被判罪成。有傳媒發現，該基金會獲聯合國批准為特別諮商地位非政府組織，直至現時仍保留該地位；至於案中提及的三名聯合國大會前主席亦涉貪腐，聯合國暫未有跟進行動。有美媒向聯合國秘書長古特雷斯查詢，惟對方並無回應。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20181208/00176_036.html
- https://beta.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2177074/disgraced-former-hong-kong-minister-patrick-ho-wanted-use Disgraced former Hong Kong minister Patrick Ho wanted to use Chinese oil money to buy the influence of Republican members of Congress and conservative think tanks in the United States, court documents from his trial have revealed. Ho told CEFC China Energy boss Ye Jianming in 2014 that cultivating that relationship could prove beneficial in the run-up to the presidential election two years later, which was won by Donald Trump and is the focus of a major investigation into Russian meddling. In a proposal to the CEFC chairman, Ho wrote that two years of “dollar relations” could help lay the foundation for good US-China partnership in the future.
- 美媒日前報道，何志平背後靠山葉簡明透過向大學和智庫提供大量資金、組織論壇等，得以接觸華盛頓政圈，當中包括與美國前副總統拜登（Joe Biden）一家見面。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20181216/00176_025.html
- 香港民政事務局前局長何志平因行賄及洗錢罪成，三月底於美國紐約南區聯邦法庭被判囚三年及罰款四十萬美元（約三百一十二萬港元）。保安局前局長、立法會議員葉劉淑儀昨日在立法會答問會上問及，香港與美國有移交判刑人士協議，若何志平放棄上訴，港府會否與美方商討將何移交回港服刑。港府指，會請保安局局長研究兩地移交安排及法律基礎，由港府還是由當事人提出，但會以人為本角度去考慮。葉劉指，若港方、美方及何志平均同意移交，可將何移交回港，希望港府考慮。港府回應指會考慮。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20190510/00176_023.html
- https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3018471/jailed-former-hong-kong-minister-patrick-ho-acted-go Disgraced former Hong Kong minister Patrick Ho Chi-ping acted as go-between for a former chief of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to meet President Xi Jinping in 2015, according to documents filed to a US appeal court. The private exchanges between Ho and Sam Kutesa, the current foreign minister of Uganda, who chaired the global body from 2014 to 2015, was revealed in Ho’s appeal application on Thursday to overturn his conviction in a multimillion-dollar bribery case involving top officials in Chad and Uganda. The revelation showed the efforts of Ho, 69, and his think tank China Energy Fund Committee (CEFC) to build networks at the UN, and advance China’s geopolitical strategy, the Belt and Road Initiative.
- https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3022905/missing-oil-tycoon-ye-jianmings-firm-faces-delisting-china-18 The latest turn in the dramatic downfall of one of China’s most aggressive deal makers – CEFC China Energy – is the likely start this week of removing its only mainland-listed unit from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. CEFC China amassed a large portfolio of energy and financial assets in Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa under its mysterious founder, Ye Jianming.Its one mainland-listed unit is CEFC Anhui International Holdings. Under exchange rules, it is likely to be delisted soon because its stock price has fallen so low that it cannot meet the threshold of reaching its face value of one yuan by Friday. In a filing Thursday with the exchange, CEFC Anhui warned of the delisting risk.
- 英國監察組織環境調查社（EIA）上月聲稱，一間中國的伐木公司涉嫌持續賄賂非洲國家加蓬及剛果共和國多名部長，以圖謀取利益，並從兩國轉移數百萬美元的未繳稅款，違反林業法律。加蓬上周五將涉事公司停牌，並就事件展開調查。報告亦指，非法砍伐的木材已經流入美國及歐洲市場，令消費者誤信所購產品符合環保標準。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20190414/00180_003.html
- competition
- Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz and two associates are to stand trial for allegedly bribing Guinean officials to win mining licences, Swiss prosecutors say. The trio allegedly paid $10m (£8.2m) to one of the wives of former Guinean President Lansana Conte. Mr Steinmetz and his mining company Beny Steinmetz Group Resources (BSGR) have previously denied any wrongdoing. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-49331091
- Two former executives of a Chinese unit of Herbalife Nutrition were criminally charged in the United States on Thursday over an alleged decade-long scheme to bribe Chinese government officials and circumvent the company’s internal accounting controls, a person familiar with the matter said.Li Yanliang, also known as Jerry Li, and Yang Hongwei, also known as Mary Yang, were each charged by the US Department of Justice with conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, an anti-bribery law.Li was also charged with perjury and destroying records.Both defendants are 51-year-old Chinese citizens and remain at large. Li also faces related civil charges by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3037827/ex-herbalife-executives-li-yanliang-and-yang-hongwei-charged-us-bribing
- https://www.ft.com/content/42ac9192-5dd2-11e8-ad91-e01af256df68 Yelp has filed a complaint with the EU’s antitrust watchdog against Google, arguing that the search company has abused its dominance in local search and pressuring Brussels to launch new charges against the tech giant.
- 美國聯邦貿易委員會於當地時間上周五，就高通涉嫌損害智能手機零部件競爭案開審。高通被指威脅手機生產商支付技術授權費，否則拒絕供應晶片。華為和聯想均有出庭作供。案件在加州聖何塞開審，將持續到本月二十八日。控方指，高通曾於二○一三年告知華為，若公司不延長無線通訊技術「碼分多址（CDMA）」許可協議，「將停止供應晶片」。華為法律顧問表示，大家都清楚高通會威逼業界簽署某種形式的許可協議。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20190107/00178_011.html
- https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3005415/telescopes-row-brings-us-china-trade-war-sharp-focus-chinese American telescope brand and distributor is seeking US$180 million in damages from Chinese manufacturers that it alleges acted as a cartel. The antitrust case, which will proceed to trial in the Northern District of California, sees Chinese companies accused of colluding to “coordinate the manufacture, marketing and distribution of telescopes in the US” in a way that has squeezed the profits of an employee-owned American firm. Orion Telescope & Binoculars claims it has been the victim of “a conspiracy” cooked up by companies that were rivals on paper, but which it alleges were in cahoots in the build up to an acquisition that allowed them to act with “cartel-like behaviour”.
- Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz and two associates are to stand trial for allegedly bribing Guinean officials to win mining licences, Swiss prosecutors say. The trio allegedly paid $10m (£8.2m) to one of the wives of former Guinean President Lansana Conte. Mr Steinmetz and his mining company Beny Steinmetz Group Resources (BSGR) have previously denied any wrongdoing. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-49331091
- Two former executives of a Chinese unit of Herbalife Nutrition were criminally charged in the United States on Thursday over an alleged decade-long scheme to bribe Chinese government officials and circumvent the company’s internal accounting controls, a person familiar with the matter said.Li Yanliang, also known as Jerry Li, and Yang Hongwei, also known as Mary Yang, were each charged by the US Department of Justice with conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, an anti-bribery law.Li was also charged with perjury and destroying records.Both defendants are 51-year-old Chinese citizens and remain at large. Li also faces related civil charges by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3037827/ex-herbalife-executives-li-yanliang-and-yang-hongwei-charged-us-bribing
- https://www.wsj.com/articles/mozambique-corruption-probe-marks-new-u-s-approach-11547548201
- 日本東京之前獲得明年的奧運主辦權，法國傳媒周五引述消息報道，巴黎當局去年十二月起訴日本奧委會主席竹田恒和，指他涉嫌在爭取奧運主辦權的過程行賄，涉及金額達二百萬歐元（約一千八百萬港元）。竹田恒和稱只是協助調查。報道指，法國當局於二○一六年展開有關調查，指竹田領導的東京申奧小組，涉嫌向以新加坡為基地的公司「Black Tidings」支付該筆款項，而該公司與來自塞內加爾的國際田聯（IAAF）前主席迪亞克的兒子帕帕‧迪亞克有關連。日本奧委會拒絕回應。帕帕‧迪亞克已被國際刑警列入通緝名單，他涉嫌收取數百萬歐元賄款，以支持巴西里約熱內盧及東京申辦奧運，以及影響贊助合約批出。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20190112/00180_025.html
USA
- The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) (15 U.S.C. § 78dd-1, et seq.) is a United States federal law known primarily for two of its main provisions, one that addresses accounting transparency requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and another concerning bribery of foreign officials. The act was amended in 1988 and in 1998. As of 2012 there were continued congressional concerns.The idea of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is to make it illegal for companies and their supervisors to influence foreign officials with any personal payments or rewards.[page needed] The FCPA applies to any person who has a certain degree of connection to the United States and engages in foreign corrupt practices. The Act also applies to any act by U.S. businesses, foreign corporations trading securities in the U.S., American nationals, citizens, and residents acting in furtherance of a foreign corrupt practice whether or not they are physically present in the U.S. This is considered the nationality principle of the act. Any individuals that are involved in those activities may face prison time.[page needed] This act was passed to make it unlawful for certain classes of persons and entities to make payments to foreign government officials to assist in obtaining or retaining business.[full citation needed] In the case of foreign natural and legal persons, the Act covers their deeds if they are in the U.S. at the time of the corrupt conduct. This is considered the protective principle of the act. Further, the Act governs not only payments to foreign officials, candidates, and parties, but any other recipient if part of the bribe is ultimately attributable to a foreign official, candidate, or party. These payments are not restricted to monetary forms and may include anything of value. This is considered the territoriality principle of the act.
- http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/040901f8-2ca3-11e6-a18d-a96ab29e3c95.html US advertising agencies are boosting their profits at the expense of clients by cutting secret deals with media companies, according to an investigation funded by big American brands. The Association of National Advertisers, whose members include Apple, Procter & Gamble and Unilever, said its investigators had found “pervasive” evidence that agencies are taking cash rebates from media companies without their clients’ knowledge.
- ft 21jan2020 justice department boosts role in antitrust cases
chile
- 智利政府指控廁紙大廠CMPC與瑞典競爭對手PISA合謀抬高價格，十二年來不法獲利逾四億六千萬美元（約三十五億八千萬港元）。智利打擊經濟犯罪及壟斷的監管機構，發現自二○○○年起，CMPC及PISA負責人多次私下會面。當局指雙方員工均以預付手機聯絡，還把電腦丟進水渠消滅證據，猶如黑手黨電影情節。依據與消費者團體達成的和解協議，CMPC共花近一億五千萬美元支付賠款，主要透過個人銀行戶口派發。當局指控CMPC和PISA於二○○○年到一一年間合謀，藉操控價格以壟斷廁紙等產品的市場，聯手逼新對手退出競爭，兩間公司得以掌控九成市佔率。民眾群情激憤，因為該國雞肉和處方藥，亦曾多次出現商家聯手抬價情況。不過，聯手抬價不必服刑只需罰款。CMPC於周三宣布，即日向全國一千二百五十萬名成年人，派發每人十一美元（約八十五港元）賠償。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20180804/00180_015.html
EU
- https://www.ft.com/content/3b3ebc3c-a374-11e7-b797-b61809486fe2 Brussels has fined truckmaker Scania €880m, saying it had participated in a 14-year-long “properly organised” cartel to fix prices and pass on the costs of new emissions-reducing technology. Five other truck companies alleged to be in the same cartel settled in July last year for a record €2.9bn fine, but Scania, which is owned by Volkswagen, denied any wrongdoing and on Wednesday said it would appeal against the EU’s decision. The EU alleged that the six companies colluded from 1997 to 2011 to co-ordinate list prices and timing of the new emission-reducing technology for medium and heavy trucks.
- https://www.ft.com/content/a8a208e8-ac3d-11e7-aab9-abaa44b1e130 Brussels regulators have raided the offices of European banking associations in Poland and the Netherlands as part of an antitrust crackdown on lenders that block fintech rivals from gaining legitimate access to customer information. The European Commission said it carried out unannounced bank inspections with national regulators as part of an antitrust operation on October 3. Without naming any of the countries involved, Brussels said it had “concerns” the banks and the trade bodies representing them “may have engaged in anti-competitive practices” by putting up barriers to challenger groups seeking access to customer account information when users have given their consent. Brussels said the raids were carried out in a “few” member states. Poland and the Netherlands are among them, according to people familiar with the matter. The EU is on a drive to shake up Europe’s retail banking sector with regulations that encourage innovative technology companies to join the market and give consumers greater control of their data.
- https://www.reuters.com/article/eu-pricefixing-autos/eu-hands-out-cartel-fines-to-car-parts-suppliers-shipping-groups-idUSS8N1JX017 The European Commission on Wednesday handed out a total of 546 million euros ($673.49 million) in fines to car shipping groups and car parts suppliers for anti-competitive behaviour, the EU executive said. The Commission, in its role as competition supervisor in the European Union, said it had fined shipping groups CSAV, K-Line, WWL-EUKOR and NYK 395 million euros for having formed a cartel in sea transport of new cars and trucks.
- https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48098100 Mastercard and Visa have both agreed to cut their fees for tourists using their cards in the EU, after a long-running battle with the European Commission. The credit card firms will now charge retailers around 40% less on non-EU credit and debit cards payments.
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-27/canon-gets-32-million-eu-fine-for-jumping-gun-on-toshiba-deal Canon Inc. was fined 28 million euros ($32 million) by the European Commission for moving forward with a takeover of Toshiba Corp.’s medical systems unit before seeking merger approval.The Japanese imaging company deployed a tactic known as “warehousing” that was aimed at circumventing requirements to file for approval, the EU’s antitrust arm said in a statement.
- http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-19-3950_en.htm The European Commission has fined Sanrio €6.2 million for banning traders from selling licensed merchandise to other countries within the EEA. This restriction concerned products featuring Hello Kitty or other characters owned by Sanrio. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said:"Today's decision confirms that traders who sell licensed products cannot be prevented from selling products in a different country. This leads to less choice and potentially higher prices for consumers and is against EU antitrust rules. Consumers, whether they are buying a Hello Kitty mug or a Chococat toy, can now take full advantage of one of the main benefits of the Single Market: the ability to shop around Europe for the best deals."
- google
- facebook
- 日本東京地方檢察廳周四以涉嫌非法收受中國企業賄賂為由，搜查自民黨眾議員秋元司的辦公室及向他問話。秋元司此前曾在內閣任職，負責處理開設賭場的工作，而涉事中方企業據報總部位於廣東省深圳，從事網上賭場、體育彩票等業務。日媒指其涉嫌違日本《外匯法》，從海外將數百萬日圓現金帶入境。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20191220/00180_025.html
- 東京地方檢察廳經調查後，周三發出拘捕令。秋元司曾擔任負責引進賭場事務的內閣環境副大臣，被指非法收取上述華企三百萬日圓（約二十一萬四千港元）現金，他否認指控。日媒報道，涉案華企擁有網上博彩等業務，前年在東京成立日本法人，有意加入北海道綜合度假區（IR）項目。與秋元司相熟的該企業員工在未有申報下，超額攜帶數百萬日圓入境，違反《外匯法》；該批現金被指流入秋元司手中。秋元司前年曾經香港到訪該華企在深圳的總部，並獲邀赴澳門視察賭場。秋元司稱︰「我對此事驚動外界表示歉意，但我沒有參與違法行為。」他指前往深圳只為考察尖端科技，現身涉事華企是「順道」，否認與涉案華企員工熟稔。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20191226/00180_017.html
- 日本眾議員秋元司涉收取中國博彩公司賄款，日前被東京檢察廳拘捕。涉事華企供稱各向另外五名眾議員支付一百萬日圓（約七萬一千港元），包括前防衞大臣岩屋毅等人。岩屋毅上周六否認收賄。 日媒引述消息指，四十七歲、曾任涉事公司顧問的仲里勝憲供稱，在二○一七年九月向秋元司交付三百萬日圓（約二十一萬六千港元）現金，另外向五人各付約一百萬日圓；五人中有四人是自民黨議員，另一人是日本維新會議員。五人分別為自民黨的岩屋、前文部科學政務官中村裕之、法務政務官宮崎政久和議員船橋利實，以及日本維新會的前郵政民營化擔當相下地幹郎；他們全部否認收受現金。東京地檢特搜部正就是否違反《政治資金規正法》展開調查。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20200105/00180_015.html
- 加拿大航空公司計劃收購其競爭對手越洋航空（Air Transat）。歐盟反壟斷機構前日指，加航此舉將抬高市場價格，減少來往歐洲至加拿大航班選擇，決定就此展開全面調查。加航及越洋航空早前均否認上述指控。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20200527/00180_006.html
USA
- The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) (15 U.S.C. § 78dd-1, et seq.) is a United States federal law known primarily for two of its main provisions, one that addresses accounting transparency requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and another concerning bribery of foreign officials. The act was amended in 1988 and in 1998. As of 2012 there were continued congressional concerns.The idea of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is to make it illegal for companies and their supervisors to influence foreign officials with any personal payments or rewards.[page needed] The FCPA applies to any person who has a certain degree of connection to the United States and engages in foreign corrupt practices. The Act also applies to any act by U.S. businesses, foreign corporations trading securities in the U.S., American nationals, citizens, and residents acting in furtherance of a foreign corrupt practice whether or not they are physically present in the U.S. This is considered the nationality principle of the act. Any individuals that are involved in those activities may face prison time.[page needed] This act was passed to make it unlawful for certain classes of persons and entities to make payments to foreign government officials to assist in obtaining or retaining business.[full citation needed] In the case of foreign natural and legal persons, the Act covers their deeds if they are in the U.S. at the time of the corrupt conduct. This is considered the protective principle of the act. Further, the Act governs not only payments to foreign officials, candidates, and parties, but any other recipient if part of the bribe is ultimately attributable to a foreign official, candidate, or party. These payments are not restricted to monetary forms and may include anything of value. This is considered the territoriality principle of the act.
- http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/040901f8-2ca3-11e6-a18d-a96ab29e3c95.html US advertising agencies are boosting their profits at the expense of clients by cutting secret deals with media companies, according to an investigation funded by big American brands. The Association of National Advertisers, whose members include Apple, Procter & Gamble and Unilever, said its investigators had found “pervasive” evidence that agencies are taking cash rebates from media companies without their clients’ knowledge.
- ft 21jan2020 justice department boosts role in antitrust cases
- 美國海軍近年爆出嚴重的貪污案，多名軍官相繼入罪。《華盛頓郵報》日前引述當局調查文件指，退休海軍情報總監布蘭奇（Ted Branch） ，曾收取馬來西亞籍商人弗朗西斯的好處，包括在香港一間豪華餐廳享用晚宴，但未能證實他與妓女開派對的指控。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20180314/00180_022.html
- 美國聯邦調查局及紐約南區聯邦檢察官，指控健康產品公司康寶萊前中國區總裁、全球高級副總裁李延亮，以及外部事務部主管楊紅薇，涉嫌向中國官員行賄二千五百萬美元（約一億九千五百萬港元），以換取相關的直銷牌照。兩人分別被控一項串謀違反「反海外腐敗法罪」，罪成最高判囚五年及可能吊銷綠卡。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20191118/00180_008.html
- 美國聯邦調查局及紐約南區聯邦檢察官，指控健康產品公司康寶萊前中國區總裁、全球高級副總裁李延亮，以及外部事務部主管楊紅薇，涉嫌向中國官員行賄二千五百萬美元（約一億九千五百萬港元），以換取相關的直銷牌照。兩人分別被控一項串謀違反「反海外腐敗法罪」，罪成最高判囚五年及可能吊銷綠卡。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20191118/00180_008.html
- 美國洛杉磯市議員維薩爾（Jose Huizar）被指收受中國地產商及富豪逾一百五十萬美元（約一千一百七十萬港元）賄款，他前天因涉嫌受賄和敲詐勒索罪被捕及接受傳訊，保釋金為十萬美元（約七十八萬港元）。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20200625/00180_019.html
- big tech
- big tech
- 《華爾街日報》引述消息人士報道，美國聯邦貿易委員會（FTC）正調查Facebook（Fb）是否藉收購潛在的競爭對手，阻止其他公司挑戰其社交媒體巨擘地位。根據標普全球數據，Fb自二○○三年購入近九十間企業，包括WhatsApp及Instagram；FTC及Fb均未有回應報道。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20190803/00180_030.html
- 美國科技巨企Google一直被指違反反壟斷法，美媒周二披露，國內逾半州份的總檢察官擬就此展開調查，料下周一宣布，意味當局對硅谷的科技巨企調查升級。Google發言人指，公司的服務讓用戶有更多選擇，支撐數以千計就業崗位及小企業，會繼續與監管部門合作。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20190905/00180_012.html
- ft 29oct19 big tech feels heat of five investigations
- 綜合CNET、《華爾街日報》報道：美國四大科企（亞馬遜、谷歌、臉書、蘋果）的行政總裁預計29日參加眾議院司法委員會聽證會，回應反壟斷問題，這是美國國會首度就科企壟斷問題召開聽證會進行討論，旨在探明美國現行反壟斷法是否存在漏洞。http://paper.takungpao.com/resfile/PDF/20200729/PDF/a15_screen.pdf
chile
- 智利政府指控廁紙大廠CMPC與瑞典競爭對手PISA合謀抬高價格，十二年來不法獲利逾四億六千萬美元（約三十五億八千萬港元）。智利打擊經濟犯罪及壟斷的監管機構，發現自二○○○年起，CMPC及PISA負責人多次私下會面。當局指雙方員工均以預付手機聯絡，還把電腦丟進水渠消滅證據，猶如黑手黨電影情節。依據與消費者團體達成的和解協議，CMPC共花近一億五千萬美元支付賠款，主要透過個人銀行戶口派發。當局指控CMPC和PISA於二○○○年到一一年間合謀，藉操控價格以壟斷廁紙等產品的市場，聯手逼新對手退出競爭，兩間公司得以掌控九成市佔率。民眾群情激憤，因為該國雞肉和處方藥，亦曾多次出現商家聯手抬價情況。不過，聯手抬價不必服刑只需罰款。CMPC於周三宣布，即日向全國一千二百五十萬名成年人，派發每人十一美元（約八十五港元）賠償。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20180804/00180_015.html
- https://www.ft.com/content/3b3ebc3c-a374-11e7-b797-b61809486fe2 Brussels has fined truckmaker Scania €880m, saying it had participated in a 14-year-long “properly organised” cartel to fix prices and pass on the costs of new emissions-reducing technology. Five other truck companies alleged to be in the same cartel settled in July last year for a record €2.9bn fine, but Scania, which is owned by Volkswagen, denied any wrongdoing and on Wednesday said it would appeal against the EU’s decision. The EU alleged that the six companies colluded from 1997 to 2011 to co-ordinate list prices and timing of the new emission-reducing technology for medium and heavy trucks.
- https://www.ft.com/content/a8a208e8-ac3d-11e7-aab9-abaa44b1e130 Brussels regulators have raided the offices of European banking associations in Poland and the Netherlands as part of an antitrust crackdown on lenders that block fintech rivals from gaining legitimate access to customer information. The European Commission said it carried out unannounced bank inspections with national regulators as part of an antitrust operation on October 3. Without naming any of the countries involved, Brussels said it had “concerns” the banks and the trade bodies representing them “may have engaged in anti-competitive practices” by putting up barriers to challenger groups seeking access to customer account information when users have given their consent. Brussels said the raids were carried out in a “few” member states. Poland and the Netherlands are among them, according to people familiar with the matter. The EU is on a drive to shake up Europe’s retail banking sector with regulations that encourage innovative technology companies to join the market and give consumers greater control of their data.
- https://www.reuters.com/article/eu-pricefixing-autos/eu-hands-out-cartel-fines-to-car-parts-suppliers-shipping-groups-idUSS8N1JX017 The European Commission on Wednesday handed out a total of 546 million euros ($673.49 million) in fines to car shipping groups and car parts suppliers for anti-competitive behaviour, the EU executive said. The Commission, in its role as competition supervisor in the European Union, said it had fined shipping groups CSAV, K-Line, WWL-EUKOR and NYK 395 million euros for having formed a cartel in sea transport of new cars and trucks.
- https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48098100 Mastercard and Visa have both agreed to cut their fees for tourists using their cards in the EU, after a long-running battle with the European Commission. The credit card firms will now charge retailers around 40% less on non-EU credit and debit cards payments.
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-27/canon-gets-32-million-eu-fine-for-jumping-gun-on-toshiba-deal Canon Inc. was fined 28 million euros ($32 million) by the European Commission for moving forward with a takeover of Toshiba Corp.’s medical systems unit before seeking merger approval.The Japanese imaging company deployed a tactic known as “warehousing” that was aimed at circumventing requirements to file for approval, the EU’s antitrust arm said in a statement.
- http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-19-3950_en.htm The European Commission has fined Sanrio €6.2 million for banning traders from selling licensed merchandise to other countries within the EEA. This restriction concerned products featuring Hello Kitty or other characters owned by Sanrio. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said:"Today's decision confirms that traders who sell licensed products cannot be prevented from selling products in a different country. This leads to less choice and potentially higher prices for consumers and is against EU antitrust rules. Consumers, whether they are buying a Hello Kitty mug or a Chococat toy, can now take full advantage of one of the main benefits of the Single Market: the ability to shop around Europe for the best deals."
- 美國科技企業Google去年十一月宣布，同意以二十一億美元（約一百六十三億八千萬港元）收購智能手錶製造商Fitbit。惟歐盟委員會周二宣布，正就這項交易會否讓Google享有不公平的競爭優勢，展開深入調查。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20200806/00180_024.html
- 歐盟反壟斷機構正調查Facebook等科網巨企的反競爭行為，Facebook前天宣布，就歐盟提出索取非必要數據的請求提出訴訟，並希望交由歐盟法院審理。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20200729/00180_033.html
- financial
- 信用卡公司萬事達卡被指故意提高跨境收費，阻礙商家享受歐盟單一巿場不同銀行提供的營商好處，違反反壟斷法，歐盟周二處以五億七千萬歐元（約五十一億港元）罰款。按照一五年前的規定，當有跨境交易時，萬事達卡收商戶較高國家收費，令不同國家銀行無法以信用卡收費公平競爭。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20190123/00180_026.html
- ft 6may19 steel merger faces heat from brussels competition regulators
- https://www.ft.com/content/8066c454-20d5-11ea-b8a1-584213ee7b2b
Brussels has opened an in-depth investigation into the merger of two major South Korean shipbuilders, following in the footsteps of antitrust regulators in Singapore. The European Commission is concerned that the tie-up between Hyundai Heavy and Daewoo Shipbuilding “may reduce competition in various global cargo shipbuilding markets”, according to a statement. “The transaction may therefore significantly reduce competition in the market for cargo shipbuilding, which could lead to higher prices, less choice and reduced incentives to innovate,” the statement added.
- 經歷四年，長和 就旗下3英國及O2合併遭歐盟委 員會否決一事，終獲上訴得直。 長和發聲明回應表示，歡迎歐盟 普通法院的裁定。 長和在上訴中指出，歐盟委 員會審理有關合併，以及其他歐 洲電訊商等合併的取向，是以錯 誤的成見作導引，以為每個歐盟 成員國需要至少四家流動網絡營 運商才可維持市場競爭。http://paper.takungpao.com/resfile/PDF/20200529/PDF/b2_screen.pdf
UK
- uk bribery act 2010
- section 7
- http://www.sidley.com/news/2016-03-15-complex-commercial-litigation-update Following formal approval of the UK’s first Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) in the Standard Bank case (see our Update on that case here), there have been two further cases providing long-awaited insight into the interpretation and enforcement of UK anti-bribery legislation. The sentencing of Sweett Group plc (SG) in February 2016 represents the first case in which a company has been convicted and sentenced for the section 7 offence of failing to prevent bribery by an associated person (the Corporate Offence) under the UK Bribery Act 2010 (the Bribery Act). The Sweett Group case addresses the circumstances in which a company will not be offered a DPA, as well as shedding further light on certain aspects of the Bribery Act and the likely penalties for the Corporate Offence. The second recent case is the conviction in January 2016 of Smith and Ouzman Ltd (S&O) in respect of a pre-Bribery Act offence. The Smith and Ouzman case represents the first UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) trial resulting in a conviction of a corporate for foreign bribery and is the culmination of an investigation that commenced in 2010.
- [constitutional law, administrative laws, and human rights published by oxford] the original version of the bill (in cl 15) provided in explicit terms that the new offence would apply to MPs, and that art 9 would not provide an MP with any protection against prosecution.
- http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1641600/nowhere-hide-bribery-laws
- http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20150919/00180_013.html 英國傳媒今年二月曾放蛇，假扮來自香港的公關公司人員，揭露英國執政保守黨前外相聶偉敬及工黨前外相施仲宏，稱可運用影響力助商界疏通人脈，謀取利益。事件震驚英國政壇，惟國會下議院標準事務委員會經調查後，前日發表報告，指二人並無違規，惹來嘩然。
- http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20150920/00180_026.html 英國執政保守黨前外相聶偉敬及工黨前外相施仲宏，早前被指利用影響力撈油水。近日兩人雖獲國會下議院標準事務委員會裁定沒違規，但前日再有英媒爆料，指聶偉敬原來有份面試該委員會的其中一人，委員會的調查被質疑有潛在利益衝突。報道指，聶偉敬二○一二年時隸屬於下議院一個協助任命標準事務委員會成員的五人小組，當年有份面試該委員會的現任女成員哈得遜（Kathryn Hudson）。哈得遜其後順利獲推薦加入該委員會，現時年薪達一百三十萬港元。多名國會議員紛紛指，她在聶偉敬涉撈油水一事中有潛在利益衝突，認為她早應該退出調查避嫌，更指這反映委員會涉私相授受。報道又指，委員會中至少有兩名成員稱不知道哈得遜和聶偉敬的關係，並指她從沒在調查報告中提及。哈得遜拒絕評論事件，聶偉敬則稱對曾面試哈得遜全無印象。
- 英國競爭與市場管理局（CMA）周二初步裁定，新聞集團主席梅鐸旗下的廿一世紀霍士公司併購英國天空電視台的計劃不符合公眾利益。最終裁決將在五月一日出爐，屆時有關報告再交由文化、媒體及體育部門作最終決定。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20180124/00180_027.html
- https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48048596 The proposed merger between Sainsbury's and Asda has been blocked by the UK's competition watchdog over fears it would raise prices for consumers. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also said it would raise prices at the supermarkets' petrol stations and lead to longer checkout queues.
- 英國競爭與市場管理局（CMA）周一宣布，正調查美國科技公司Google收購大數據分析公司Looker Data Sciences的交易，以確定該次交易會否造成壟斷。CMA指，公眾可於本月二十日或之前，對此案發表意見。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20191204/00180_004.html
- 英國競爭與市場管理局周三在一份報告中指出，美國科技巨企Google及社交網Facebook在英國的網上廣告市場佔有壟斷性的地位，當局擬加強規管網上平台的行為和加強人們對個人資料的控制。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20191220/00180_021.html
france
- 法國總統馬克龍親信、國民議會議長費朗（Richard Ferrand）因七年前一宗物業交易涉嫌財務不當，周四被檢察官正式控以利益衝突。五十七歲的費朗被指在擔任布列塔尼醫療互助保險公司負責人期間，協助拍檔杜桑（Sandrine Doucen）獲得一份利潤豐厚的物業租賃項目。有關案件在一七年被揭發，費朗當時被迫辭任地區發展部長，惟布列塔尼法院其後裁定沒有起訴根據，費朗之後獲任命為國民議會議長。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20190914/00180_026.html
- 法國競爭消費與反詐騙總局經近八年調查，昨日宣布美國蘋果公司因作出反競爭行為，決定罰款破紀錄的十一億歐元（約九十五億港元）。當局指蘋果與兩間批發商同意不作價格上競爭，並阻止分銷商競爭，兩間批發商因非法合謀定價亦分別被罰款。 https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20200317/00180_039.html
italy
- institution
latvia
- https://eng.lsm.lv/article/economy/banks/regulator-vows-to-root-out-phantom-bank-clients.a257599/ Latvia's financial regulator, the Financial and Capital Market Commission (FKTK) has vowed to continue the battle against "phantom" clients in the country's boutique banking sector, often part of money-laundering schemes.
- https://www.ft.com/content/dbba8922-2a72-11e8-9b4b-bc4b9f08f381 Latvia has vowed to overhaul its offshore banking system and drastically reduce foreign deposits as it tries to appease US and European regulators following accusations of money laundering and breaching sanctions against North Korea. The country’s finance minister and its main regulator told the Financial Times that bank deposits from foreigners — often from Russia and other ex-Soviet states — would be slashed from 34 per cent of the total to just 5 per cent within the next six months.
israel
- 內塔尼亞胡涉嫌以其影響力協助電訊大亨免受監管，以及向對方所屬公司提供逾二億五千萬美元（約十九億五千萬港元）利益，換取有利自己及家族的新聞報道。他亦被指非法收取澳洲富豪帕克（James Packer）等人禮物，另涉嫌與報章老闆串謀，削弱對方競爭對手來換取正面報道。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20200526/00180_004.html
india
- 美國社交網巨擘Facebook（Fb）旗下的通訊軟件WhatsApp市場極大，引起壟斷爭議。英媒前日引述多方消息表示，有指控稱WhatsApp利用其市場優勢，向大量用家提供電子支付服務，印度反壟斷監察組織已就此審視，或會展開調查。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20200517/00180_032.html
italy
- institution
- Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM)
- http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/samsung-apple-iphone-slow-phones-models-italy-intention-deliberate-updates-a8172191.htmlClaims that Samsung intentionally slows down older smartphones in order to “induce” customers to buy new models are being investigated in Italy. The South Korean company is claimed to have used software updates to slow down mobile phones. Apple is facing the same allegations.
latvia
- https://eng.lsm.lv/article/economy/banks/regulator-vows-to-root-out-phantom-bank-clients.a257599/ Latvia's financial regulator, the Financial and Capital Market Commission (FKTK) has vowed to continue the battle against "phantom" clients in the country's boutique banking sector, often part of money-laundering schemes.
- https://www.ft.com/content/dbba8922-2a72-11e8-9b4b-bc4b9f08f381 Latvia has vowed to overhaul its offshore banking system and drastically reduce foreign deposits as it tries to appease US and European regulators following accusations of money laundering and breaching sanctions against North Korea. The country’s finance minister and its main regulator told the Financial Times that bank deposits from foreigners — often from Russia and other ex-Soviet states — would be slashed from 34 per cent of the total to just 5 per cent within the next six months.
israel
- 內塔尼亞胡涉嫌以其影響力協助電訊大亨免受監管，以及向對方所屬公司提供逾二億五千萬美元（約十九億五千萬港元）利益，換取有利自己及家族的新聞報道。他亦被指非法收取澳洲富豪帕克（James Packer）等人禮物，另涉嫌與報章老闆串謀，削弱對方競爭對手來換取正面報道。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20200526/00180_004.html
india
- 美國社交網巨擘Facebook（Fb）旗下的通訊軟件WhatsApp市場極大，引起壟斷爭議。英媒前日引述多方消息表示，有指控稱WhatsApp利用其市場優勢，向大量用家提供電子支付服務，印度反壟斷監察組織已就此審視，或會展開調查。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20200517/00180_032.html
australia
- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-banks-cartel-explainer/australia-opens-fire-on-alleged-banking-cartels-idUSKCN1J10OV Australia’s anti-cartel laws have come to global attention with the country’s competition watchdog lodging criminal charges for alleged cartel behavior against two global investment banks, in a move one expert called “almost unique”.Deutsche Bank AG and Citigroup Inc denied wrongdoing, with the latter saying the regulator was effectively criminalizing practices long seen as the norm in the financial industry.
- https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3020682/canberra-orders-probe-allegations-special-treatment-chinese Canberra on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into allegations that police, customs and immigration officials illegally smoothed the way for a prominent casino group to attract Chinese high rollers. Crown Resorts, the country’s biggest casino company, has been in the spotlight since Sunday when a series of media reports alleged it used junket operators with links to Asian triad gangs, that drug traffickers laundered money through the company, and that government employees gave special treatment to wealthy Chinese gamblers.The high rollers who are alleged to have visited the casino on junkets from China include Ming Chai – the cousin of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying rejected the allegations against Ming.
- 澳洲競爭與消費者委員會（ACCC）周二入稟聯邦法院，控告美國科技公司Google過去兩年誤導Android系統手機用戶，對收集的個人位置數據作出虛假或誤導性聲明，違反澳洲消費者法律。英媒形容今次事件是澳洲加強打擊Google，Google發言人則表示公司會就訴訟抗辯。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20191030/00180_012.html
- 澳洲競爭與消費者委員會（ACCC）昨日宣布，將調查國內手機應用程式的使用及共享數據方式，亦會審視美國蘋果公司及Google應用程式商店之間的競爭程度，同時檢視國內手機應用程式市場是否需提高價格透明化，預計明年三月提交最終報告。美國蘋果公司及Google暫未回應。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20200909/00180_015.html- 澳洲競爭與消費者委員會（ACCC）周二入稟聯邦法院，控告美國科技公司Google過去兩年誤導Android系統手機用戶，對收集的個人位置數據作出虛假或誤導性聲明，違反澳洲消費者法律。英媒形容今次事件是澳洲加強打擊Google，Google發言人則表示公司會就訴訟抗辯。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20191030/00180_012.html
- water
- water first became a tradeable commodity in some parts of Australia in the 1980s, but over the years the market has grown into an industry worth A$3 billion (US$2.08 billion) a year – the largest of its kind in the world.In Australia, Earth’s driest inhabited continent, landowning farmers are given water rights that can be traded on a water market, while anyone – including foreign entities – can invest in these entitlements. While the government has a registry of foreign ownership of such rights, details of investments are not made public and reports suggest these investors might not always be robustly scrutinised.Last month, an updated Register of Foreign Ownership of Water Entitlements report found China to be the largest foreign owner of Australian water entitlements – but ahead of the United States by only a slim margin. Concerned that foreign companies would capitalise on the economic uncertainty created by Covid-19, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg last month ordered Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) to review all overseas purchases, but a recent investigation by national broadcaster the ABC found some foreign investors in water still face limited scrutiny. The investigation also found that at least two Chinese state-owned enterprises owned water entitlements in Australia. One company, Chinatex Australia, was in 2018 criticised in parliament over its failure to pay a A$31.35 million court order to compensate a local beef provider over a failed export deal. Helen Dalton from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party, who represents Murray in the state legislative assembly of New South Wales, is among those calling for more transparency. Last year, she put forward a bill proposing that politicians and businesses – foreign or domestic – disclose their water interests. Dalton owns more than A$17 million of water entitlements in Murray-Darling Basin, which reaches from the state of South Australia to Queensland and encompasses most of Victoria and New South Wales. “I put mine down because people should know that I have an interest in water,” she said. “This water register would encompass that as well as everything else. We would have a searchable, transparent register by name. Right now, it is almost impossible to find out who owns what. It’s looking for a needle in a haystack.” While Dalton is pushing for transparency across the industry and has not specifically called out foreign companies, she believes they should not be allowed to invest in Australia’s “most valuable natural resource”.
Water availability in key river systems has slowly reduced and the cost of water has steadily risen ever since water became a tradeable commodity, but last July the cost of water in the southern Murray-Darling Basin hit a record high of A$550 per megalitre, up nearly 140 per cent from A$230 a year previously.Claims that companies, both local and from overseas, are driving up the cost of water by market manipulation are being investigated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).Grafton from Australian National University said the release of the ACCC report later this year should provide clarity on concerns of market manipulation and hopefully put the China conspiracies to rest.https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3092733/china-really-buying-all-australias-water-or-are-these-claims
- 澳洲《每日郵報》昨日報道，墨爾本東南部斯普林維爾（Springvale）商業區貨倉，積存大批嬰兒配方奶粉。有出口商經理稱，公司有合法出口奶粉至中國的證明，並否認從超市取貨。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20200415/00180_008.html
japan
- Shipbuilding Scandal of 1954
korea
- http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/754528b4-320d-11e6-8825-ef265530038e.html South Korea’s sweeping anti-corruption legislation is facing a business backlash over fears that strict public sector limits on accepting expensive dinners and gifts could further damp sluggish domestic consumption. The legislation, due to come into force in September, is designed to address a thinly veiled culture of bribery among South Korean civil servants, schoolteachers and journalists. Generous hospitality, meals and presents are often seen as a normal part of business in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
- https://www.ft.com/content/11b3f736-2aec-11ea-bc77-65e4aa615551 South Korea’s parliament has passed a controversial bill to set up an agency dedicated to investigating corruption among high-ranking officials, despite strong resistance from the main opposition party and conservative groups. The establishment of the anti-corruption agency was President Moon Jae-in’s biggest election campaign promise, in a bid to reform the country’s judicial system amid widespread public distrust of state prosecutors. The prosecutors’ office has faced criticism for being at the nexus of political corruption in South Korea. Critics allege it was used as a political tool by former conservative governments to target dissenters. Mr Moon and liberal politicians have long called for the establishment of the agency to probe corruption among high-ranking civil servants including the president, lawmakers, top court justices and state prosecutors. According to a recent survey, about two-thirds of South Koreans support the bill, which curbs the immense power of state prosecutors. However, in recent days the main opposition party tried to block the vote with a filibuster. It boycotted the vote on Monday, arguing that the new agency — which is expected to launch next July — may abuse its power. The ruling party now plans to hold a vote on another bill that aims to rebalance the investigative power between prosecutors and police. Justice minister nominee Choo Mi-ae on Monday vowed to quickly take follow-up measures to help the implementation of the reform bill.
vietnam
- [vasavakul] anticorruption efforts began in early 1990s and were codified in 1998 ordinance on anti-corruption, the 2005 law on anti-corruption, and subsequent revised laws, and vietnam's commitment to UN convention on anti-corruption.
- The Competition Law 2018 now governs any activities whether by Vietnamese or foreign entity or individual which have or may have the “competition restraining impact” to Vietnam market. Competition restraining impact means impact which excludes, reduces, distorts or hinders competition in the market. Under the Competition Law 2018, the competition authority of Vietnam now has clear authority to deal with offshore activities and transactions which has impact on Vietnam market. In addition, the Competition Law 2018 now also apply to public service units such as hospitals, or schools which are technically not enterprises.
https://vietnam-business-law.info/blog/2018/7/30/vietnams-new-competition-law-2018
indonesia
- Indonesia’s anti-monopoly agency, KPPU, is investigating whether Garuda and Lion are behaving like a cartel, as well as looking into Garuda’s operational control of Sriwijaya Air, the country’s third-largest airline group, commissioner Guntur Saragih said on Monday. “We believe there is price setting,” he said, adding that the agency plans to say next week whether it will take the airlines to court. The maximum fine for price setting is 25 billion rupiah per party per case. Garuda and Lion did not respond to requests to comment on the allegations. Airlines have stopped selling deeply discounted fares on many domestic routes and are instead selling most tickets at or near the maximum limit, according to industry sources and airline information.https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-airlines-strategy-insight/domestic-airfares-soar-in-indonesia-despite-government-price-cap-idUSKCN1U6031
SINGAPORE- Indonesia’s anti-monopoly agency, KPPU, is investigating whether Garuda and Lion are behaving like a cartel, as well as looking into Garuda’s operational control of Sriwijaya Air, the country’s third-largest airline group, commissioner Guntur Saragih said on Monday. “We believe there is price setting,” he said, adding that the agency plans to say next week whether it will take the airlines to court. The maximum fine for price setting is 25 billion rupiah per party per case. Garuda and Lion did not respond to requests to comment on the allegations. Airlines have stopped selling deeply discounted fares on many domestic routes and are instead selling most tickets at or near the maximum limit, according to industry sources and airline information.https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-airlines-strategy-insight/domestic-airfares-soar-in-indonesia-despite-government-price-cap-idUSKCN1U6031
- The review is taking place in the wake of high-profile revelations of criminal wrongdoing at companies in the city-state, though a spokeswoman for the island-state’s Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said the move was “not connected” to those events. Keppel Corp, which counts state investor Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL] as its largest shareholder, has agreed to pay more than $422 million to resolve probes by U.S., Brazilian and Singapore authorities on charges it bribed Brazilian officials. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-singapore-corruption/singapore-reviewing-anti-graft-law-amid-mounting-calls-to-make-it-tougher-idUSKBN1FC0RJ
malaysia
- https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysia-to-probe-battersea-property-deal-in-london-anwar-ibrahim Malaysia will investigate the Battersea Power Station deal and other major "dubious" property investments in the UK, said Anwar Ibrahim, the de facto leader of ruling coalition Pakatan Harapan. On a working visit to Britain, Datuk Seri Anwar told The Guardian that a series of deals paid for by Malaysian sovereign funds and pension funds and brokered by the previous Barisan Nasional administration had to be looked at again and renegotiated if there was any wrongdoing. "All these deals which are considered dubious, including investments in housing in London, will have to be investigated. Yes, that includes Battersea. Because they were made using state funds. We have to be convinced that this was the right investment decision and that there was no political influence or direction (within Malaysia)," he was quoted as saying.Due to be completed in 2028 with an estimated gross development value of £10 billion (S$18 billion), the Battersea Power Station project is owned by a consortium of Malaysian investors comprising Sime Darby Property Bhd, SP Setia Bhd and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).
- Malaysia’s anti-graft agency is investigating allegations by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) that Airbus paid a bribe of US$50 million to win plane orders from AirAsia, it said on Saturday.The SFO said on Friday that Airbus had failed to prevent individuals associated with it bribing executives linked to AirAsia Group and its long-haul arm, AirAsia X.AirAsia said it had never made any purchase decisions that were premised on an Airbus sponsorship, and that it would fully cooperate with Malaysia’s Anti-Corruption Commission. In a statement, it said it had not been involved with the SFO’s investigation of Airbus or given any opportunity to provide clarification.https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3048559/airasia-denies-corruption-airbus-order-malaysia-probes
- Malaysia's former finance minister Lim Guan Eng was arrested on Thursday (Aug 6) and is set to be charged with corruption in connection to the Penang undersea tunnel project, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said.https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/malaysia-lim-guan-eng-corruption-charges-penang-12997212
china
- rules & reg
- 實施11年的《反壟斷法》迎來首 次修訂。國家市場監督管理總局官網昨日公布《反 壟斷法》修訂草案（公開徵求意見稿），即日起至 1月31日向社會公開徵求意見。針對近年來反壟斷 領域出現的新情況，尤其是隨着互聯網經濟的蓬勃 發展引發的反壟斷糾紛，《修訂草案》在特定領 域、法律責任等方面進行了調整。http://hk.hkcd.com/pdf/202001/0103/HZ16103CZXX_HKCD.pdf
- china daily dedicated page http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014crackongraft/
- Anti-graft task forces adding members and publicizing their plans for reform
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-06/17/content_17592192.htm
- China takes anti-corruption drive overseas
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6ec199d0-3cc5-11e4-871d-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3DXTLlVt5
- Bribe case highlights west’s dilemma over China’s overseas probes
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/a90c00e8-3d70-11e4-8797-00144feabdc0.html
- http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1595245/disappearance-ultrasonic-chiefs-taints-china-firms-listed-german
- http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1602643/hong-kong-first-target-chinas-new-pursuit-corrupt-officials
- 貪官爭赴南歐南非http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20141013/00174_001.html
- http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-10/29/content_18818641.htm China will upgrade anti-corruption legislation as it continues a campaign to build a clean government and practice austerity. Anti-graft laws will be introduced into national legislation to construct a better prevention and punishment system, said a key policy document from the Communist Party of China published on Tuesday.
- sports field in anti-corruption spotlight http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-11/05/content_18868217.htm
- http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20150829/00178_003.html中央整治官媒，引發《人民日報》旗下人民網高層地震。官方公布，人民網總裁廖玒、副總裁陳智霞已被檢察機關立案偵查，並採取強制措施（逮捕）。在內地上市的人民網昨日下午停牌，並發聲明指積極配合檢方偵查；海外傳媒則引述消息透露，當局整頓人民網，反腐利劍直指中宣部。
- http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20151025/00176_133.html 內地嚴厲反貪同奉行節約，嚴禁公款吃喝玩樂同送禮，令唔少內地宴會都相當簡樸，不敢再以大魚大肉、鮑參翅肚去宴客，但有時就慳過龍，菜式可以好嚇人。早前內地就有個重要宴會，上枱嘅食物真係估佢唔到，擺放咗盆「乾爭爭」嘅麵包，旁邊只有牛油，連湯都無滴。咁大魚都有條啩？有嘅，但唔係新鮮魚，而係罐頭之中嘅極品「豆豉鯪魚」，上菜時仲依稀見到罐頭嘅形狀添！除咗上述兩味別有風味嘅菜式，我哋仲打探到，席上一個海鮮鍋都經歷幾多變遷。話說未奉行節約風之前，海鮮窩有鮑魚同海參，但近年就變成豬皮、蘿蔔同魚蛋呢啲港式街頭小食。據聞有宴會獲邀人士表達意見後，今年終於成功爭取「魚蛋變蝦丸」，但豬皮同蘿蔔依然在海鮮鍋中浮沉唔肯走。到底點樣可以利用有限嘅金錢，變化出最美味嘅菜式？但咁嘅成本，睇怕連肥媽都未必變得出平靚正菜式喇！
- http://www.chinadailyasia.com/nation/2016-05/13/content_15432272.html A former senior diplomat has been expelled from the Party and transferred to judicial authorities for further investigation. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China announced on its website on Thursday that Zhang Kunsheng, former assistant minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had seriously violated Party rules and undermined the Party's image. Investigations found that Zhang violated the eight-point austerity rules by visiting private clubs or expensive resorts, trading power for sex, and refusing to report personal matters such as true income and assets. Zhang also resisted the commission's investigation, the CCDI statement said. The commission said Zhang had been transferred to judicial authorities on suspicion of taking advantage of his posts to seek gains for others and to take bribes. Zhang, who was born in Shanxi province in 1958, began his diplomatic career at the Foreign Ministry in 1985.
- http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/news/art/20160629/19674220內地的貪腐案件燒到香港，《蘋果》獲悉，建制派福建幫要員、香港上市公司錦興國際控股（2307）行政總裁戴錦文由於涉及國企武漢鋼鐵（武鋼）前董事長鄧崎琳的貪腐案，去年9月起疑被內地當局安排指定居所監視居住，禁止離境。有關資訊雖屬股價敏感資料，但錦興國際一直未有披露，有立法會議員認為或違條例《證券及期貨條例》；錦興表示不會回應。案件的主角、武鋼前董事長鄧崎琳今年65歲，中紀委在2015年初調查涉及武鋼的貪腐案件，矛頭直指鄧，他於6月退休，8月中紀委就公佈他涉嚴重違紀違法而須接受組織調查。至今年1月，中紀委指鄧崎琳嚴重違反六大紀律，宣佈開除鄧黨籍，並移交司法機關處理。本業為紡織及製衣的錦興國際是戴氏家族公司，由戴錦文及戴錦春兩兄弟創辦，二人分任行政總裁及主席。祖籍福建的二人屬建制派，除了擔任湖北及廣東的政協委員，亦積極參與相關福建鄉親組織，分別是福建旅港戴氏宗親會、香港福建南安公會等組織的永遠榮譽會長，屬福建幫重要成員。
- http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20170214/00182_001.html從今年一月一日開始，中國正式實施《金融帳戶涉稅信息盡職調查管理辦法》，為中國稅務機關與全球上百個國家與地區的稅務機關相互交換居民帳戶訊息做好了鋪墊。這意味着今後中國稅收居民在國外的帳戶訊息情況將由中國稅務機關清楚掌握，中國貪官在海外洗錢的難度又大大增加。
- cases
taiwan
- 台湾公平交易委员会（公平会）11日以垄断为由，重罚美国晶片大厂高通公司234亿元新台币（约58.5亿港元），创下公平会对单一公司最高罚锾纪录。公平会自2015年2月立案对高通展开调查。公平会认为，高通挟其于移动通讯标准的优势，拒绝授权竞争同业专利，达到在终端装置收取授权金的目的，违法时间长达7年，向台湾事业收取的授权金总额约4000亿元新台币，台湾向高通公司採购的基频晶片总金额约300亿美元。http://paper.takungpao.com/resfile/PDF/20171012/PDF/b14_screen.pdf
- 台灣的立法院疑爆出跨黨派集體貪污案，六名現任或前任立委涉嫌台灣SOGO經營權之爭及陽明山土地開發中，從中收賄二百萬至二千萬元（新台幣‧下同，約五十三萬五千至五百三十五萬港元）。台北地檢署於昨日依貪污罪向法院聲請羈押禁見十人。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20200802/00178_004.html
Hong Kong- http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20170214/00182_001.html從今年一月一日開始，中國正式實施《金融帳戶涉稅信息盡職調查管理辦法》，為中國稅務機關與全球上百個國家與地區的稅務機關相互交換居民帳戶訊息做好了鋪墊。這意味着今後中國稅收居民在國外的帳戶訊息情況將由中國稅務機關清楚掌握，中國貪官在海外洗錢的難度又大大增加。
- cases
- 騰訊與網媒今日頭條的互告愈演愈烈，繼騰訊前日宣布起訴今日頭條，要求賠償一元（人民幣‧下同）及公開道歉後，今日頭條昨日表示，騰訊利用壟斷地位等多次作不正當競爭，已向騰訊提訴，並要求道歉及賠償九千萬元。目前兩案均獲北京海淀區人民法院立案。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20180603/00178_017.html
taiwan
- 台湾公平交易委员会（公平会）11日以垄断为由，重罚美国晶片大厂高通公司234亿元新台币（约58.5亿港元），创下公平会对单一公司最高罚锾纪录。公平会自2015年2月立案对高通展开调查。公平会认为，高通挟其于移动通讯标准的优势，拒绝授权竞争同业专利，达到在终端装置收取授权金的目的，违法时间长达7年，向台湾事业收取的授权金总额约4000亿元新台币，台湾向高通公司採购的基频晶片总金额约300亿美元。http://paper.takungpao.com/resfile/PDF/20171012/PDF/b14_screen.pdf
- 台灣的立法院疑爆出跨黨派集體貪污案，六名現任或前任立委涉嫌台灣SOGO經營權之爭及陽明山土地開發中，從中收賄二百萬至二千萬元（新台幣‧下同，約五十三萬五千至五百三十五萬港元）。台北地檢署於昨日依貪污罪向法院聲請羈押禁見十人。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20200802/00178_004.html
- 馮程淑儀 case hkej 2apr16 a12
- http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20160324/00176_046.html 麗新發展有限公司一名男物業發展主任，涉嫌向租客收賄和索賄，以將一個住宅單位租給對方，並縱容對方分租單位，被廉政公署控以收賄和索賄兩罪。另外，廉署發現另有一名公司董事在租用一間店舖時，亦涉嫌賄賂該名麗新男主任，涉案董事因而亦被控賄賂罪。兩人昨在九龍城法院提堂，均否認控罪，法庭將案押後至五月十八日預審，期間兩人各准以一萬五千元繼續保釋。兩名被告依次是梁桂祺（五十七歲）及黃健國（四十四歲）。梁在案發時是麗新發展的物業主任，負責處理麗新發展聯營公司擁有的店舖和住宅物業之租賃業務；黃則是利興環保有限公司董事兼股東，從事廢金屬回收。
- 路政署總工程監督於一五年建議維修將軍澳隧道公路二百萬元工程時，涉嫌收受該工程分判商的五萬元賄款，而事實上隧道管理公司還未商議進行該工程。廉署發現該工程監督跟分判商一同離港前往內地，回港時身懷五萬元現金，而鈔票上找到分判商的基因。二人昨於觀塘法院分別否認受賄及行賄罪名。http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20180110/00176_082.html
- 代理人收受打賞當屬犯法 當事人受聘於一家投資銀行為客戶顧問，負責管理客戶的投資組合。在大約十二年前，當事人首次替一位客戶炒股票賺錢，於是當事人對該客戶說按行規要給予20%利潤作為佣金。這位客戶照辦，分別開了兩張共140萬港元的支票給當事人的弟弟，並有證據顯示當事人最終收到這140萬元。當事人被判「串謀代理人接受利益罪」成立，法官亦強調《防止賄賂條例》中個別條例就是打擊「代理人履行自己分內職務，卻要收取非法/秘密報酬」的不公平和不合理現象。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/finance/20190812/00275_002.html
- 香港應用科技研究院有限公司研究及發展總監劉文建，涉隱瞞自己、妻子和好友直接或間接持有兩間供應商的利益，將應科院七項總值逾五十三萬元的訂單批予該兩間公司，劉更涉嫌親自到零售店購買產品後，以供應商的名義高價轉售給應科院。劉事後否認一項公職人員行為失當罪，以及共七項屬交替控罪的欺詐和企圖欺詐罪，案件昨在沙田法院開審。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20191112/00176_069.html
- 廉政公署落案起 訴意大利名牌 Dolce & Gabbana(D&G)香港分公司前 主席 Michel Didier Raymond Gonzalez，以及魅達網 (香港)的經營者蔣加鋒，在2013年至2016年，將總值 逾 1260 萬元的 D&G 「季尾」貨售予內地一間網上特 賣店，獲取非法回佣共約177萬元。http://hk.hkcd.com/pdf/202005/0522/HA16522CEAA_HKCD.pdf
Macau
- investigstions into network involving john ashe, stanley ho, 何厚, 曾慶紅, jiang zemen epoch times special supp 23mar16
- http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20160507/00176_035.html 澳門特區政府通過澳門基金會向廣州暨南大學提供一億元人民幣建設經費，事件曝光後惹來外界質疑。有內地官媒報道，這是暨大在廣州復辦以來收到數額最大的單筆捐款，並指「現任行政長官崔世安從二○一○年起任暨南大學董事會副董事長」，曾公開多次表示澳門與暨大素有淵源。
- http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20160630/00176_052.html澳門廉政公署完成調查澳門基金會向暨南大學批給人民幣一億元資助的事件，認為無迹象顯示有利益衝突情況。廉署認為，暨大作為內地政府部門開辦的從事高等教育活動的事業單位，本身具有公法人的性質，其財政資源均須依法用於公共教育事業上。澳門基金會批給暨大的資助，符合基金會的宗旨及法定程序，且沒有違反有關迴避的法律規定，因此無迹象存在舉報信中所述的利益衝突。
http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20171207/00176_010.html
- 澳門生產力暨科技轉移中心被指聘用人員時任人唯親，廉署早前調查發現中心一百零一名員工中，有十多人有親屬關係。廉署昨表示已就事件完成補充調查工作，證實中心在職員工中，有十五人有親屬關係，又指中心過去部分招聘未有對外公開。有學者指，生產力中心作為公營機構，在人員招聘及晉升上必須公平公開，促請當局改善。https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20190515/00176_042.html
project
- eu anticorrp http://anticorrp.eu/
website
- http://www.bxffw.com/
New Zealand
- http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/11/world/asia/new-zealand-elections-scandal/index.html
news article
-
-屈政府大茶飯 http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/financeestate/art/20140429/18703915
- center for public integrity report http://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/04/16/14419/how-chinese-offshore-data-became-interactive?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=watchdog&utm_medium=publici-email
- SCMP "The business of whiste-blowing" http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1487548/business-whistle-blowing
- SCMP http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1432456/gsk-rolls-royce-may-be-british-serious-fraud-offices-hit-list
GSK, Rolls-Royce may be on British Serious Fraud Office's hit list
Glaxo and Rolls-Royce may be on the hit list as a new policy will make it easier to deal with cases involving malpractice overseas efficiently
PUBLISHED : Friday, 21 February, 2014, 10:53am
UPDATED : Saturday, 22 February, 2014, 12:05am
Britain's Serious Fraud Office plans to prosecute or fine some companies for engaging in bribery overseas, and analysts said some cases might involve mainland China, with GlaxoSmithKline and Rolls-Royce as likely targets.
"We have a number of cases in mind but need to look at all the facts," a spokesman with the fraud office told the South China Morning Post.
The Bribery Act seeks to punish Britain-linked firms for bribery overseas, and a new policy by the office announced this month could make it easier to deal with such cases efficiently.
We are investigating cases that risk being overlooked as too difficult
The timing of the prosecutions and fines would depend on the circumstances of individual cases, the spokesman said.
In a speech in November quoting Chinese President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption slogan "Striking tigers as well as flies", Ben Morgan, the joint head of bribery and corruption at the office, said: "We are investigating the types of cases that risk being overlooked as too difficult or too sensitive."
Rob Elvin, a Britain-based managing partner of law firm Squire Sanders, said: "We assume this includes GlaxoSmithKline and Rolls-Royce."
Beijing is probing GSK, the largest British drug firm, for alleged bribery in mainland China.
In December 2012, Rolls-Royce, which makes civil and military jet engines and power generation equipment, said it had passed information to the fraud office relating to bribery, in response to the office's request for information about allegations of malpractice in Indonesia and mainland China.
The British company said it had identified "matters of concern" in mainland China, Indonesia and other countries.
A Rolls-Royce spokesman declined to comment on media reports that businessman Sudhir Choudhrie and his son Bhanu were arrested in London this month as part of the office's investigation into alleged bribery in Indonesia and mainland China by the firm.
The spokesman also declined to comment on reports in London's Daily Telegraph that the fraud office's probe included contracts won by Rolls-Royce after the Bribery Act came into force in 2011.
"If any investigation [by the fraud office] did uncover problems after July 1, 2011, they could be covered by the Bribery Act, which makes it easier to prosecute," said Barry Vitou, a partner at law firm Pinsent Masons, referring to the Rolls-Royce concerns.
Analysts said the office's new deferred prosecution agreement policy would speed up prosecution of corruption cases. From Monday, these agreements for economic crimes would be available to British prosecutors, the office said last week.
A deferred prosecution agreement is one between the prosecutor and a company that allows prosecution to be suspended for a period of time, provided the firm meets certain conditions.
The fraud office's director David Green said such an agreement sought to avoid damaging the company too much, which would hurt employees and shareholders.
The new policy was significant as it provided additional tools for prosecutors, said Andrew Dale, a partner at law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.
These agreements would potentially enable the fraud office to resolve more investigations more efficiently, said Keith Williamson, head of forensic and dispute services for Asia at Alvarez & Marsal, an international professional services firm. "We may see a [spate] of resolutions, either settlements or prosecutions," he said.
Deferred prosecution agreements would encourage companies to voluntarily report corruption within their ranks to the fraud office, Williamson said.
Elvin said: "[These] agreements are most certainly significant. They allow commercial organisations to settle allegations of criminal economic activity without being prosecuted and without any formal admission of guilt. [They] provide a cost-efficient and quick means of addressing financial crime by corporates."
However, British authorities were likely to still prosecute the most serious economic crimes, he said.
- http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2014-03/03/content_17317035.htm- SCMP "uk plans to hold corporations to account for crimes of staff" http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1445522/uk-plans-hold-corporations-account-crimes-staff
UK plans to hold corporations to account for crimes of staff
Serious Fraud Office wants companies to be liable for failing to prevent financial crimes
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 11 March, 2014, 3:29am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 11 March, 2014, 4:37am
The head of Britain's Serious Fraud Office has proposed a change to the Bribery Act 2010, seeking broader powers to get tough with corporations that fail to prevent staff from committing financial crimes.
If enacted, the measures could make it easier for the SFO to prosecute corporations, as opposed to individuals, both under the act and more generally. Considering the extraterritorial reach of the act, the proposed change will have implications for corporations that, while not registered in the UK, conduct business in or through the jurisdiction.
The difficulty for the SFO in securing convictions on the basis of corporate liability is well known, and is in stark contrast to the comparative success rate (albeit, largely negotiated) enjoyed by the prosecuting authorities in the United States in enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The difficulties in bringing successful prosecutions under the Act (as with all cases of corporate liability) arise from the need to demonstrate that the corporation had the requisite criminal intent of bribing another person.
This means that the SFO must show the "controlling mind" of the corporation - namely the board of directors - knew of the bribery being perpetrated by its employees.
In practice, it is often the case that evidence cannot be secured to demonstrate that members of a corporation's board knew bribery was being committed by workers at lower levels within the organisation.
Accordingly, the opportunities for pursuing corporations for breaches of the act are constrained by the "controlling mind" test.
The proposed amendment seeks to overcome this limitation by broadening the scope of Section 7 of the act. Section 7 provides that it is an offence for a company to fail to prevent acts of bribery by its staff.
The offence is one of strict liability, which means the SFO is not required to prove any mental intent on the part of the corporation under scrutiny. It is proposed that the scope of Section 7 be expanded from failing to prevent bribery, to a wider offence of failing to prevent financial crime by its employees.
The effect would be to broaden the range of offences for which a corporation may be liable, without the SFO having to satisfy the onerous "controlling mind" test, which may increase the rate of prosecutions (and types of crime) that can be brought against corporations.
While the offence under Section 7 is one of strict liability, it is subject to the statutory defence of "adequate procedures" (measures a company has in place to prevent staff offending). There has been no indication that the SFO is considering advocating a modification of this defence.
It is understood that the SFO envisages that an increased scope of Section 7 would be used only in exceptional cases, such as where a corporation profited from the criminal conduct of its employees, but it is not clear what other circumstances would be considered "exceptional".
A broader scope Section 7 may have a deterrent effect. Corporations convicted under Section 7 may be blacklisted from bidding for European public contracts, which could prove fatal to the financial viability of many corporations.
Further, with the expansion of Section 7 to include financial crimes, there may well be significant consequences for banks caught up in the Libor-rigging investigations.
At present the proposals have not been presented to Parliament, which will finally decide if the suggested amendments should be enacted.
The proposals remain in the nascent stages, but the sentiment expressed by the amendments indicates a desire on the part of the SFO to ensure that corporations are held accountable for the wrongs committed by those institutions, and to adopt a more aggressive stance when investigating corporations implicated in financial crime.
Richard Tollan is a partner and advises, among other areas, on matters of fraud and anti-corruption compliance. He is a former detective inspector in the Commercial Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police, running multi-jurisdictional investigations into serious fraud.Jennifer Colegate is a registered foreign lawyer (qualified in England and Wales) focusing, among other areas, on anti-corruption matters.
- FT "Business of Reputation Management" http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/eeb977f6-a47d-11e3-9cb0-00144feab7de.html#axzz2wC3iHRbr
The business of reputation management
They say that mud sticks – when a person or organisation is vilified people remember it. But does this matter for a business school? If so, what can a school do about it and should students and alumni care?
In recent years these questions may well have been a topic of conversation in the offices of several prominent business schools.
Prof Money says that while outside consultancy work is vital for business schools if they are to remain relevant, he concedes that “risk comes with the territory”. Business schools, he says, might begin to suffer from bad news associated with outside consultancy if that bad news lasts for a long time.
“Ethical behaviour in the long term will provide you with good long-term performance,” he says, adding that, long-term unethical behaviour will eventually have a deleterious effect.
Institutions also have cause for concern. A decade ago Mr Fombrun measured what he calls “the reputation halo” of a number of business schools and ranked them according to the different criteria. The rankings were published. A year later he was able to see a measurable effect in alumni funding. Those schools that were ranked low had seen a fall in funding, those ranked more highly had seen a rise. Reputation, it appears, matters.
Mr Fombrun believes that consultancy work does carry reputational risk. He says schools are conscious of this and over 25 years he has participated in many discussions and committees that looked at this topic.
“There was always a concern and a discussion about the degree to which professors should be allowed to do [outside] work,” he says.
“If you prevent professors from engaging in activity you can limit the income they make and then you can’t attract the stars.” This can damage a business school’s good name he explains, because star faculty members enhance a school’s reputation.
. . .
The reluctance to discourage star players might account for business schools’ careful handling of conflict of interest guidelines. Where these are explicitly stated, most schools appear to rely upon disclosure as a means of curbing any professorial excesses.
How heavy handed should business schools be when it comes to handling potential conflicts of interest?
Schools can choose to require disclosure or impose stricter rules or guidelines. Columbia hit the headlines in 2011 for toughening its conflict of interest rules. It made the move after the film Inside Job came out, but says it was in the process of revising them anyway. The revised guidelines state that professors must now publicly disclose all outside activities that create or appear to create conflicts of interest. Additionally, a section on outside activities must also be included in professors’ annual Faculty Activity Reports.
Harvard also relies heavily on disclosure in its rules, but the rules also spell out ethical norms, such as: “Faculty members should refrain from actions that could reasonably bring discredit upon Harvard and their own academic and scholarly integrity.” In addition, the rules prohibit certain activities such as entering into any form of commercial relationship with a student.
Academics at Saïd Business School, however, must comply with a different approach set down by the University of Oxford. Instead of relying simply on disclosure, rule number one is that all university employees must obtain approval from their head of department before undertaking paid outside activities.
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cd783c04-b33b-11e3-b09d-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz2wy4STeLS
March 24, 2014 11:07 am
Fang Fang resignation a Turning point for China investment banks
The difficulty for the SFO in securing convictions on the basis of corporate liability is well known, and is in stark contrast to the comparative success rate (albeit, largely negotiated) enjoyed by the prosecuting authorities in the United States in enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The difficulties in bringing successful prosecutions under the Act (as with all cases of corporate liability) arise from the need to demonstrate that the corporation had the requisite criminal intent of bribing another person.
This means that the SFO must show the "controlling mind" of the corporation - namely the board of directors - knew of the bribery being perpetrated by its employees.
In practice, it is often the case that evidence cannot be secured to demonstrate that members of a corporation's board knew bribery was being committed by workers at lower levels within the organisation.
Accordingly, the opportunities for pursuing corporations for breaches of the act are constrained by the "controlling mind" test.
The proposed amendment seeks to overcome this limitation by broadening the scope of Section 7 of the act. Section 7 provides that it is an offence for a company to fail to prevent acts of bribery by its staff.
The offence is one of strict liability, which means the SFO is not required to prove any mental intent on the part of the corporation under scrutiny. It is proposed that the scope of Section 7 be expanded from failing to prevent bribery, to a wider offence of failing to prevent financial crime by its employees.
The effect would be to broaden the range of offences for which a corporation may be liable, without the SFO having to satisfy the onerous "controlling mind" test, which may increase the rate of prosecutions (and types of crime) that can be brought against corporations.
While the offence under Section 7 is one of strict liability, it is subject to the statutory defence of "adequate procedures" (measures a company has in place to prevent staff offending). There has been no indication that the SFO is considering advocating a modification of this defence.
It is understood that the SFO envisages that an increased scope of Section 7 would be used only in exceptional cases, such as where a corporation profited from the criminal conduct of its employees, but it is not clear what other circumstances would be considered "exceptional".
A broader scope Section 7 may have a deterrent effect. Corporations convicted under Section 7 may be blacklisted from bidding for European public contracts, which could prove fatal to the financial viability of many corporations.
Further, with the expansion of Section 7 to include financial crimes, there may well be significant consequences for banks caught up in the Libor-rigging investigations.
At present the proposals have not been presented to Parliament, which will finally decide if the suggested amendments should be enacted.
The proposals remain in the nascent stages, but the sentiment expressed by the amendments indicates a desire on the part of the SFO to ensure that corporations are held accountable for the wrongs committed by those institutions, and to adopt a more aggressive stance when investigating corporations implicated in financial crime.
Richard Tollan is a partner and advises, among other areas, on matters of fraud and anti-corruption compliance. He is a former detective inspector in the Commercial Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police, running multi-jurisdictional investigations into serious fraud.Jennifer Colegate is a registered foreign lawyer (qualified in England and Wales) focusing, among other areas, on anti-corruption matters.
- FT "Business of Reputation Management" http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/eeb977f6-a47d-11e3-9cb0-00144feab7de.html#axzz2wC3iHRbr
The business of reputation management
In recent years these questions may well have been a topic of conversation in the offices of several prominent business schools.
In January a professor at Harvard Business School, Ben Edelman, published a blog describing his most recent paid consultancy work, which outed what he said to be the use of secretly intrusive “adware” by Blinkx, the online video search company, something the company strongly denies. “If I traded in the companies I write about (I don’t!), I’d be short Blinkx,” Prof Edelman concluded.
Some investors evidently took his advice and two days later shares in the UK-listed company fell by a third, leaving less savvy investors nursing heavy losses. Prof Edelman has not revealed the identity of his clients except to say they were US investment firms. Commentators, however, have pulled no punches.
“Edelman and his ilk degrade professional standards. This is a long- standing problem that business schools operate on a different level of conflict of interest disclosure than other academic units,” writes one at the end of an FT article on the affair.
“HBS should fire Edelman . . . HBS is a school of management, not a research house for sale to sleazeball hedge funds,” writes another.HBS is not the only business school to come under public scrutiny relating to the consulting activities of a faculty member. In late 2011 Esade in Barcelona suffered a shock when a three-year investigation in Spain led to allegations of embezzlement of millions of euros of public funds by the Nóos Institute – a non-profit organisation headed by Iñaki Urdangarin, the Duke of Palma and son-in-law of King Juan Carlos of Spain. The duke denies any wrongdoing.
Esade’s name has been dragged into the scandal not only because the duke gained a graduate qualification at Esade in 2011, but also because Marcel Planellas, who was then secretary-general at Esade, had performed consultancy services for the Nóos Institute from 2004 to 2007. Prof Planellas has given sworn testimony to a court investigating the allegations. Now, more than two years later, although there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by either the school or Prof Planellas, Esade is still mentioned in connection with the scandal in the Spanish press and in the Spanish blogosphere, with interest fuelled by the royal family connection.
Meanwhile, Columbia Business School is still trying to live down the uncompromising revelations in the film, Inside Job, which focuses on the payments received from financial institutions by the dean of Columbia, Glenn Hubbard, and Professor Frederic Mishkin for their consulting activities in the run-up to the financial crisis.
Despite the media storms these events generated, opinion is divided over whether the bad press matters and debate continues on how best to handle potential conflicts of interest.“Intense media interest doesn’t mean your reputation is damaged,” says Rupert Younger, founder director of the Oxford university Centre for Corporate Reputation at Saïd Business School. A business school can simultaneously have a good reputation, such as for enabling students to secure a well-paid job on graduation, while also having a bad reputation for something else he says.
Kevin Money, director of the John Madejski Centre for Reputation at Henley Business School agrees.
“You have to ask yourself three key questions about reputation: For whom? For what? And for what purpose?” he says, explaining that for certain stakeholders focused only on a school’s networking opportunities, perhaps, a discussion about conflict of interest might be immaterial.Prof Money says that while outside consultancy work is vital for business schools if they are to remain relevant, he concedes that “risk comes with the territory”. Business schools, he says, might begin to suffer from bad news associated with outside consultancy if that bad news lasts for a long time.
“Ethical behaviour in the long term will provide you with good long-term performance,” he says, adding that, long-term unethical behaviour will eventually have a deleterious effect.
Students and alumni would be justified in worrying about their business school if it was consistently mentioned in non-favourable media reports, according to Charles Fombrun a former academic at the Wharton school at the University of Pennsylvania and NYU Stern who is chairman of the Reputation Institute, a US-based consultancy.
“As a student it would mean you’re investing in a depreciating asset. I think it would matter to the student.”Institutions also have cause for concern. A decade ago Mr Fombrun measured what he calls “the reputation halo” of a number of business schools and ranked them according to the different criteria. The rankings were published. A year later he was able to see a measurable effect in alumni funding. Those schools that were ranked low had seen a fall in funding, those ranked more highly had seen a rise. Reputation, it appears, matters.
Mr Fombrun believes that consultancy work does carry reputational risk. He says schools are conscious of this and over 25 years he has participated in many discussions and committees that looked at this topic.
“There was always a concern and a discussion about the degree to which professors should be allowed to do [outside] work,” he says.
“If you prevent professors from engaging in activity you can limit the income they make and then you can’t attract the stars.” This can damage a business school’s good name he explains, because star faculty members enhance a school’s reputation.
. . .
The reluctance to discourage star players might account for business schools’ careful handling of conflict of interest guidelines. Where these are explicitly stated, most schools appear to rely upon disclosure as a means of curbing any professorial excesses.
But disclosure might not be enough. In a 2205 paper called The Dirt on Coming Clean, Daylian Cain et al found that: “Disclosure may fail to solve the problems created by conflicts of interest and may sometimes make matters worse”. Disclosure can have perverse effects, they say.
Revising the rules
Revising the rules
How heavy handed should business schools be when it comes to handling potential conflicts of interest?
Schools can choose to require disclosure or impose stricter rules or guidelines. Columbia hit the headlines in 2011 for toughening its conflict of interest rules. It made the move after the film Inside Job came out, but says it was in the process of revising them anyway. The revised guidelines state that professors must now publicly disclose all outside activities that create or appear to create conflicts of interest. Additionally, a section on outside activities must also be included in professors’ annual Faculty Activity Reports.
Harvard also relies heavily on disclosure in its rules, but the rules also spell out ethical norms, such as: “Faculty members should refrain from actions that could reasonably bring discredit upon Harvard and their own academic and scholarly integrity.” In addition, the rules prohibit certain activities such as entering into any form of commercial relationship with a student.
Academics at Saïd Business School, however, must comply with a different approach set down by the University of Oxford. Instead of relying simply on disclosure, rule number one is that all university employees must obtain approval from their head of department before undertaking paid outside activities.
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cd783c04-b33b-11e3-b09d-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz2wy4STeLS
March 24, 2014 11:07 am
Fang Fang resignation a Turning point for China investment banks
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cd783c04-b33b-11e3-b09d-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2wy3rWjBK
The resignation of JPMorgan’s head of China investment banking, announced internally on Monday, probably marks a turning point for global investment banks and their tumultuous relationship with the world’s second-largest economy.
In his 12 years at JPMorgan, Fang Fang, 48, has personified the efforts of global capitalism to navigate and profit from China’s sometimes hesitant embrace of the market.
But that role has become increasingly fraught in the face of a US investigation into the hiring practices of JPMorgan and virtually every other global investment bank, all of which have recruited the “princeling” sons and daughters of Chinese leaders for decades.
More than any other top banker in China, Mr Fang was able to present himself as a bridge between China and Wall Street and provide an acceptable face to both sides.
A long-time member of the Communist party, Mr Fang was appointed in 2010 as a standing committee member of the All China Youth League, a Party-controlled federation of up-and-coming officials and business executives.
Since 2008, he has also been a representative to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the main advisory body to China’s rubber-stamp parliament.
In an interview with the Financial Times in 2011, he said this role gave him excellent access to Chinese leaders and he described the peculiar compliance challenges it presented to JPMorgan.
“After a lot of back and forth and explanations from me, the internal legal team eventually concluded that it would be similar to being appointed to the [British] House of Lords,” Mr Fang said.
The Chinese government describes the CPPCC’s role slightly differently – as “an organisation of the patriotic United Front of the Chinese people” and “an important forum for promoting socialist democratic politics with Chinese characteristics”.
Mr Fang has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
But his role in recruiting the children of powerful Party officials to work at the bank has come under scrutiny from the FBI and prosecutors from the US Justice Department, who are investigating whether JPMorgan may have violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The law forbids US companies from giving anything of value to officials in order to win business.
Virtually every western bank has routinely hired Chinese “princelings” who are able to use their networks among the country’s political elite to secure lucrative deals for their employers.
Mr Fang was born in the impoverished eastern Chinese province of Anhui and is not himself a princeling.
He was accepted into the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing in 1984 and in 1988 he was named head of the Communist party-controlled Student Union of the university, a position previously held by Zhu Rongji, China’s premier from 1998 to 2003.
In the 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising that erupted a year later, the official student unions were discredited and protesting students formed their own “autonomous” union.
By some accounts, Mr Fang had some sympathies for the demonstrating students but came under pressure as the official head of the student union to toe the party’s line.
Like many who lived through it, Mr Fang has been reluctant in the past to discuss that period of his life, but by 1993 he was working for Merrill Lynch in New York as an investment banking associate.
He was later transferred to the bank’s Hong Kong office and went on to work for the Hong Kong-listed holding company of the Beijing government before being hired by JPMorgan in 2001 as a Hong Kong-based investment banker.
His rapid rise within the bank saw him promoted to co-head of China investment banking in 2005, chief executive of China investment banking in 2007 and vice-chairman of Asia investment banking in 2009.
As the public face in China for JPMorgan, Mr Fang was frequently in the media, discussing everything from entrepreneurship to the legislative proposals he gave the government on pollution, new energy and public housing.
At a conference held by the Chinese University of Hong Kong in March last year, Mr Fang explained the difficulties he faced in bridging the gap between western perceptions and the Chinese reality.
“The overlap of business and politics is something that foreigners would not understand and it takes effort to explain this to business partners,” he said in the context of Chinese outbound mergers and acquisitions.
In an internal memo on Monday, JPMorgan said its new chairman of China investment banking would be Frank Gong, who joined the bank as chief China economist in 2004 and has been vice-chairman of China investment banking since 2009.
Brian Gu, another vice-chairman of China investment banking, and Zhao Jing, the head of JPMorgan’s financial institutions group in ex-Japan Asia, will be named co-heads of China investment banking.
Mr Fang declined to comment on Monday but his resignation is seen by others in the industry as an attempt by JPMorgan to draw a line under the ongoing US investigations and limit the fallout to its business in the region.
The probe into the bank’s hiring practices has hurt JPMorgan’s business in Asia, causing the bank to pull out of two high-profile initial public offerings – Tianhe Chemicals and Everbright Bank.
It is one of the most significant outstanding investigations into the bank, which last year paid a record $13bn penalty over allegations that it mis-sold mortgage-backed securities.
No comments:
Post a Comment