高盛身陷賄賂泥潭
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????我們可能很快就會知道了。美國證券交易委員會(Securities and Exchange Commission)正在調查高盛(Goldman Sachs)和其他大銀行在與利比亞主權財富基金交易時是否違反了賄賂法。 ????此案的問題在于高盛起初同意支付的一筆費用（該筆費用一旦支付就會被轉交給一個有政治關聯的投資管理公司）是否違反了《海外反腐敗法案》(Foreign Corrupt Practices Act，簡稱FCPA)。近年來，美國政府已打贏了諸多FCPA大案，無一不在警告業(yè)界這是一個不容輕視的問題。 ????高盛是在和利比亞主權財富基金協(xié)商如何彌補利比亞方面13億美元投資損失時談到的這筆費用的，但事實上高盛從未支付這筆費用。高盛精明的交易員們令這位老于世故的客戶損失了高達98%的投資資金，這樣的表現可能比任何投資基準都要差。 ????在2008年的某個時候，雙方曾討論以利比亞獲持高盛優(yōu)先股的形式彌補投資損失；如果成交，卡扎菲極有可能會成為恐怖分子中的沃倫?巴菲特。有意思的是，高盛曾將此舉描述為一個多贏格局。但是我們沒有機會看到這一幕，因為后來雙方談判破裂，交易未能達成。 ????目前，我們只能看到高盛每天對近期這一調查的回應。高盛針對上周四《華爾街日報》(Wall Street Journal)的報道聲明稱： ????我們確信我們的所作所為以及提議的內容既沒有、也不可能違反任何法律法規(guī)。我們一直聘請外部法律顧問，這是我們任何一宗交易的常規(guī)做法，目的是確保我們貫徹了一切適用的法律法規(guī)。我們對美國證券交易委員的調查尚不知情，如果確有此事，我們定當全力配合。 ????事情理應如此。正如之前的《虛假申報法》(False Claims Act)，FCPA已成為檢察機構打擊企業(yè)不法行為的大棒。當然，目前談論檢察機構的介入仍為時過早，美國證券交易委員會僅有權提起民事訴訟，而且近期來看即便是對調查對象提起民事訴訟的傾向性也不明顯，因為這些調查對象有足夠的錢聘請律師或動用其他資源。 ????目前還遠不清楚高盛FCPA案是否會導致9位數罰款，重蹈近年來西門子(Siemens)和哈里伯頓(Halliburton)子公司Kellogg Brown & Root的覆轍。 ????通常情況下，只有當調查機構認定涉案公司內部控制松懈并竭力掩蓋真相時，才會開出高額的FCPA罰單。高盛的聲明至少說明它清楚這些風險，并相信自己有妥善的風險管理。 ????話說回來，幾周前，我們壓根不知道高盛在讓獨裁者虧錢方面做得如此出色。天知道高盛富麗堂皇的重重紅門背后還會爆出什么秘密來？ |
????We may soon find out. The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking at whether Goldman Sachs (GS) and other big banks broke bribery laws in dealing with Libya's sovereign wealth fund. ????The question in this case is whether Goldman violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by initially agreeing to pay a fee that would have been passed along to a politically connected investment manager. The government has won a number of big FCPA cases in recent years (see chart, right), putting big companies on notice that it's not a question to take lightly. ????Goldman never actually paid the fee, which Goldman and the wealth fund discussed as they considered how the investment bank might make Libya whole for $1.3 billion in investment losses. Goldman's savvy traders lost their sophisticated client an impressive 98% of its money in that instance, a performance that is likely to have lagged behind any number of investing benchmarks. ????At one point in 2008 the sides discussed Libya clawing back its investments through a preferred stock investment in Goldman, which would have made Moammar Gadhafi a sort of Warren Buffett of the terrorist set. It would have been amusing to see Goldman spin that one as a win-win for everyone, though we never got the chance because talks broke down before a deal could be reached. ????For now we will have to be content to see Goldman's spin on the latest investigation of it, which by now is practically a daily occurrence. Goldman says in response to Thursday's report in the Wall Street Journal that ????We are confident that nothing we did or proposed was or could have been a breach of any rule or regulation. We retained outside counsel, as is our normal practice for any transaction, to ensure that we were compliant with all applicable rules. We are not aware of an SEC investigation into the matter but if there is one we will, of course, cooperate fully. ????Oh, of course. But like the False Claims Act before it, the FCPA has emerged as a big stick for prosecutors seeking to crack down on corporate creeps. It is, admittedly, early to talk about prosecutors now, the SEC having the authority to bring only civil cases and all and having shown little inclination lately to bring even those against potential adversaries who have enough money to hire actual lawyers and stuff. ????And it is far from clear that FCPA case against Goldman would result in nine-digit fines like the ones slapped recently on Siemens (SI) and the Kellogg Brown & Root unit of Halliburton (HAL). ????Big FCPA fines tend to result from cases in which investigators find lax internal controls and active efforts to cover things up. Goldman's statement, at least, indicates it is aware of those risks and believes it has managed them appropriately. ????But then, a couple weeks ago we had no idea Goldman was best in class in the losing dictators' money category. Who knows what sort of things will come out of the rich mahogany woodwork next. |
