双语时事：韩飞龙案令人关注中国尽职调查行业

2014-08-14 18:26:24来源：可可英语

　　When Peter Humphrey was convicted last week ofillegally obtaining the personal information of Chinesecitizens, it ended a case that had been closelywatched by banks, hedge funds and private equityfirms for clues about doing due diligence in China.

　　韩飞龙(Peter Humphrey)上周被判犯有非法获取中国公民个人信息罪，这起案件受到银行、对冲基金和私募股权公司的密切关注，目的是寻找在中国开展尽职调查的线索。

　　Humphrey, a Briton who co-owned a risk advisoryfirm in China with his wife, was arrested in 2013 inShanghai. His detention shocked multinationals andfinancial groups – and their lawyers and private investigators – who had to ask themselves ifChina was tightening its vague rules on private investigations.

　　韩飞龙是英国人，他与妻子在中国共同经营一家风险咨询公司，2013年在上海被捕。他的被捕震惊了跨国公司和金融集团——以及它们的律师和私人调查员——他们不得不自问：中国是否在收紧针对私人调查的模糊规则?

　　As foreign companies have intensified their focus on China, they have relied on corporate riskfirms such as Kroll and Control Risks, and smaller boutique firms such as Humphrey’sChinaWhys, to conduct due diligence before advising on Chinese initial public offerings orinvesting in China. Humphrey’s arrest sparked concern because the Shanghai police for monthsprovided no explanation.

　　随着外国企业纷纷加紧对中国的关注，它们依赖于企业风险公司——比如德安华(Kroll)和控制风险(ControlRisks)，以及更小的精品公司，如韩飞龙的中慧(ChinaWhys)——来从事尽职调查，然后就中国的首次公开发行(IPO)或在华投资提供建议。韩飞龙的被捕之所以引发关注，是因为上海警方有好几个月没有提供任何解释。

　　Velisarios Kattoulas, chief executive of Poseidon Research, a corporate risk firm, said riskconsultancies with a big presence in China were pulling their punches in client reports becausethey felt “very vulnerable” in the country. Many due diligence firms changed their practicesafter the Humphrey case to avoid being caught buying government records that might beconsidered illegal to obtain. “This happened quickly. A lot of people spent time withshredders,” said Mr Kattoulas.

　　企业风险公司波塞冬研究(Poseidon Research)的首席执行官韦利萨里奥斯•卡图拉斯(Velisarios Kattoulas)表示，在中国有较大业务的风险咨询公司现在在客户报告中有所保留，因为它们感到自己在这个国家“非常脆弱”。韩飞龙出事后，很多尽职调查公司改变了做法，以免被发现它们有购买政府记录的行为，因为这种行为可能被视为非法获取。“这一切发生得太快。很多人都忙着碎纸，”卡图拉斯表示。

　　A general counsel at one private equity group said his firm had regularly obtained police filesfrom risk firms before the Humphrey case. It has since stopped accepting such information,which sometimes includes a hukou – a household registration document that helps identifypeople.

　　某私募股权集团的总法律顾问表示，在韩飞龙案发之前，他的公司经常从风险企业获得警方档案。他的公司已停止接受这样的信息，此类信息有时包括户口——它是中国的家庭登记文件，有助于识别身份。

　　Several people said the Humphrey case had not had a huge impact on the way large firmsoperate. One person with extensive China experience said US companies had long been morecautious because of concerns about breaching the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which outlawsbribing government officials. But the person said some boutique firms that carried out Chinainvestigations for US firms were still taking risky steps because they wanted to “please theirclients”.

　　有几个人说，韩飞龙的案件并没有对大公司的经营方式产生巨大影响。具有丰富中国经验的一名人士称，美国企业早就格外谨慎，因为它们担心违反美国的《反海外腐败法》(FCPA)，该法禁止贿赂政府官员。但此人表示，为美国企业进行在华调查的某些精品公司仍付诸高风险操作，因为它们想要“让客户满意”。

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