寻
求影响力的公司需要小心了：不要拉关系拉得自己卷入行贿调查。美国证券监管部门正在调查摩根大通(J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.JPM+0.56%)是否通过雇用一些中国官员的子女来赢得业务，此事再次提醒人们需谨防聘用人脉广泛之人可能带来的风险。
自至少上世纪80年代起，美国司法部就因公司似乎为巴结官员而采取的招聘做法提出警告。近年来，美国因数家公司违反《反海外腐败法》(Foreign Corrupt Practices Act)雇用外国官员的亲属而追究其责任，其中包括泰森食品有限公司(Tyson Foods Inc.)和戴姆勒公司(Daimler AG)。
1977年颁布的《反海外腐败法》禁止公司向外国官员提供现金或“有价值的东西”以换取业务。戴姆勒和泰森食品分别于2010年和2011年就各自的案件达成和解。
目前为止，美国政府立案调查的很多案件包括公司被指雇用外国官员的亲属担任挂名职务，以便掩盖向外国官员转移现金的行为。
不过，据一位与摩根大通关系密切的人士说，美国证券交易委员会(Securities and Exchange Commission，简称SEC)对摩根大通在华活动的调查重点是该行雇用中国政府官员子女的行为。情况表明，美国政府将进行更深入的调查，涉及到官员亲属的工作本身即是为影响官员的决策而向其提供的好处。
一位美国官员周一说，政府甚至不必出示证据证明公司因为雇用官员子女而得到了好处。这位官员说，腐败意图是分析的开始也是结束。问题的关键是你有这种意图，而不是这种意图最终是否获得了成功。
并非所有人都持这种观点。美国律师事务所Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati的法律合伙人坎宁安(Leo Cunningham)说，这种设想会给政府带来大量的证据问题。他曾在涉及到《反海外腐败法》的调查中代表被调查公司。
他说，即便雇人的动机可能是希望巴结外国官员，但如果其他方面都没有问题，并不意味着雇人就是腐败行为。
摩根大通在提交给证券监管部门的一份文件中披露，该公司正在就其香港的雇用行为回应SEC下属一个反贿赂部门的讯问。该公司说，正在全力配合监管机构。SEC发言人拒绝置评。
雇用高官亲属是一个由来已久的做法，不光是发展中国家，在美国也是如此。雇用的原因有很多，包括广泛的经验和良好的教育背景，并不一定涉及特定的交换条件。
埃及前总统侯赛尼•穆巴拉克(Hosni Mubarak)之子贾迈勒•穆巴拉克(Gamal Mubarak)在职业生涯之初曾供职于现在的美国银行(Bank of America Corp.)的前身。美国前总统小布什(George W. Bush)的弟弟杰布•布什(Jeb Bush)和表亲乔治•沃克尔(George Walker)曾供职于雷曼兄弟(Lehman Brothers)。切尔西•克林顿(Chelsea Clinton)在巴里•迪勒(Barry Diller)旗下互联网媒体控股公司IAC/InterActive Corp.任主管，还曾经就职于对冲基金Avenue Capital。知情人士说，前中国高官薄熙来的长子李望知曾经就职于花旗集团(Citigroup Inc.)。薄熙来即将因腐败指控出庭受审。
花旗集团发言人说，该行对于招聘有着完善的全球程序，在中国也不例外，我们确保任何职位的任何候选人都会受到与相应职位相关的优缺点评估。
美国银行拒绝置评。IAC和Avenue Capital的代表不予置评。
法律专家说，帮助一家公司避免遭到贿赂质询的事实包括，首先要有证据证明存在一个空缺职位（而不是公司方面为官员亲属设置了一个新职位）；还要证明该亲属符合担任该职位的条件；以及该亲属令人满意地履行了职责。
瑞格律师事务所(Ropes & Gray LLP)的合伙人奥康纳(Daniel O'Connor)说，雇主们需要了解，SEC和司法部对于“贵重物品”的解释非常宽泛。奥康纳在反海外腐败法的调查中代表金融公司。但他说，企业在进行有利于业务的正当招聘时不应缚手缚脚。
在泰森食品遭受的调查中，美国司法部指控该公司将多名墨西哥政府兽医官的妻子纳入其员工名单中，然而这些人并未为泰森食品提供任何服务。泰森调查案于2011年和解。和解文件显示，相关的政府兽医官负责为泰森产品出口签发证明。
戴姆勒被控通过虚假咨询合同贿赂一名中国官员的妻子，以换取在向中国政府出售商务车辆的交易上中标。该公司承认有不当行为，并于2010年与美国司法部达成和解。
美国联邦政府曾说，西门子公司(Siemens)雇用孟加拉国电信监管部门一位官员的女儿，以及该国电信主管部门一位官员的侄子，涉嫌以此换取一个项目合同。西门子在2008年就这一指控和其他指控达成和解，同意向SEC和美国司法部支付8亿美元，这是迄今为止罚金规模最大的一宗《反海外腐败法》案件。
泰森食品一位发言人提到2011年一份声明，该声明说，泰森食品主动报告，2011年曾向两位墨西哥政府兽医官直接和通过他们的配偶进行了不当支付。
戴姆勒和西门子的代表未立即回复记者寻求置评的请求。
以生产ATM机闻名的NCR Corp.也曾面临类似的指控。此前据《华尔街日报》报道，一名匿名爆料人称NCR在2004年雇用了阿曼国有电信公司一位官员的妹妹，雇用时间刚好在这家电信公司授予NCR旗下阿曼子公司一个规模1,730万美元合同的前后。
这位名叫阿卜杜瓦尼(Ali Abdulamir Abduwani)的官员在一次采访中说，他的妹妹被NCR雇用一事与NCR获得Omantel的合同“毫无关系”。阿卜杜瓦尼目前是一位私人顾问。NCR目前正在接受美国司法部和SEC的调查，调查就该公司是否触犯了《反海外腐败法》展开。NCR已表示，正在配合调查，同时也在进行内部调查。NCR此前拒绝就阿卜杜瓦尼妹妹被雇用一事置评。周一NCR的发言人未立即回复记者寻求置评的请求。
曾处理过《反海外腐败法》案件的前美国联邦检察官麦康奈尔(Ryan McConnell)说，SEC将寻找能够证实相关雇用存在利益交换或者产生不当利得的文件，如果找不到这样的文件，该委员会将寻找能够证明相关雇用存在腐败意图的证人。
麦康奈尔说，我会寻找雇用时间前后相关公司收到的任何利益，比如刚好在你雇用这些人之后获得的合同或者回报。他说，一旦发现一项利益，我就会试图找到相关雇用与这项利益之间的关系。麦康奈尔目前是McConnell Sovany LLP.的合伙人。
长期以来美国公司一直被警告，在雇用外国官员的亲属时需予以审慎考虑。大约30年前，美国司法部曾从一家美国公司接到一个寻求法律建议的请求，这家公司打算雇用一家营销公司，而这家营销公司的多名负责人与一个外国国家元首有关系。
美国司法部在1984年一份意见书中说，不会对该公司雇用这家营销公司的做法提起诉讼，因为该公司仔细审查了这家营销公司的资质并且让这其承诺写下一份不会向外国官员提供任何资金的保证书。意见书中没有提到这家公司的名字，也没有提及其他能让人联想到某家公司的细节。
Joe Palazzolo / Christopher M. Matthews / Serena Ng
Nepotism: Is It a Crime?
Companies seeking influence need to be careful they don't network themselves into bribery investigations.
An inquiry by U.S. securities regulators into whether J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. hired the children of some Chinese officials to win business is a fresh reminder of the risks around the practice of giving jobs to the well connected.
The Justice Department has warned companies since at least the 1980s about hiring practices that appear to be attempts to curry favor with officials. In recent years, the U.S. has pursued several companies, including Tyson Foods Inc. and Daimler AG, for hiring relatives of foreign officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA.
The 1977 law bars companies from giving foreign officials money or a 'thing of value' in return for business. Daimler and Tyson settled their cases in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
So far, many of the government cases have included allegations of hiring relatives for no-show jobs -- as a way of concealing the transfer of cash to foreign officials.
But the probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission into J.P. Morgan's activities in China has to do with the bank's hiring of children of state officials, according to a person close to the bank. And it suggests the U.S. government is reaching further -- to cases in which the job itself is the prize offered to influence an official's decision.
One U.S. official said on Monday that the government wouldn't even have to show a benefit was actually derived from a hire. 'Corrupt intent is the beginning and the end of the analysis,' the official said. 'It's what your intent was, not if you were successful.'
That view isn't universally held. Leo Cunningham, a law partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati who has represented companies in FCPA investigations, said that scenario presents 'epic proof problems for the government.'
'Even if the hiring may be motivated by a desire to curry favor with the foreign official, that doesn't mean the hiring is corrupt if everything else about the hiring is appropriate,' said Mr. Cunningham.
J.P. Morgan, which disclosed in a securities filing that it is responding to questions from an antibribery unit of the SEC about its hiring practices in Hong Kong, has said it is 'fully cooperating with regulators.' An SEC spokeswoman declined to comment.
Hiring relatives of prominent officials is a well-established practice -- not just in developing countries but in the U.S. as well -- and for lots of reasons, including broad experience and good educations, that don't have to involve a specific quid pro quo.
Gamal Mubarak, son of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, worked for a predecessor company to the current Bank of America Corp. early in his career. Jeb Bush and George Walker, the brother and cousin of President George W. Bush, worked at Lehman Brothers. Chelsea Clinton is a director at IAC/InterActive Corp., Barry Diller's Internet media holding company, and worked at hedge fund Avenue Capital. Li Wangzhi, the eldest son of former highflying Chinese politician Bo Xilai, who is about to go on trial on corruption charges, once worked at Citigroup Inc., a personal familiar with the matter said.
A Citigroup spokeswoman said the bank 'has well established global procedures on hiring and these are no different in China, where we ensure that any candidate for any position is assessed on their relative merits in relation to the position they are being considered for.'
Bank of America declined to comment. Representatives for IAC and Avenue Capital had no comment.
Factors that would help a company fend off bribery inquiries would include proof that there was a vacant position to start with (as opposed to the company having created a new position for the official's relative); that the relative was qualified to fill it; and that the relative performed the duties of the position satisfactorily, legal experts said.
'Employers need to be aware that the SEC and the DOJ interpret 'thing of value' very broadly,' said Daniel O'Connor, a partner at Ropes & Gray LLP who represents financial firms in FCPA probes. But Mr. O'Connor said companies shouldn't be 'put in a box' for making hires that are both legitimate and good for business.
In the Tyson case, which was settled in 2011, the Justice Department alleged that the company placed the wives of Mexican government veterinarians on its payroll even though the wives didn't perform any services for Tyson. The veterinarians were responsible for certifying Tyson products for export, according to settlement documents.
Daimler was accused of paying the wife of a Chinese official through a sham consulting contract in return for a bid to sell commercial vehicles to the Chinese government. The company, which admitted wrongdoing, settled the allegations with the Justice Department in 2010.
The federal government alleged Siemens hired the daughter of a telecommunications regulatory official in Bangladesh, as well as the nephew of an official in the country's telecommunications ministry, in return for a project contract. Siemens settled the allegations and others in 2008, agreeing to pay $800 million to the SEC and Justice Department, the largest penalty to date in an FCPA case.
A Tyson spokesman pointed to a statement from 2011 which said the company voluntarily reported that improper payments had been made in 2011 to two Mexican government veterinarians directly and through their spouses.
Representatives for Daimler and Siemens didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
NCR Corp., best known for making ATMs, has faced similar allegations. As previously reported by the Wall Street Journal, an anonymous tipster has alleged NCR hired the sister of an official at Oman's state-run telecommunications company in 2004, around the time the country's state-controlled telecommunications company awarded NCR's Oman unit a $17.3 million contract.
The official, Ali Abdulamir Abduwani, who is now a private consultant, said in an interview his sister's hiring at NCR had 'nothing to do' with it getting the contract with Omantel. NCR is currently being investigated by the Justice Department and the SEC for possible violations of the FCPA, and has said it is cooperating with the probes and conducted its own internal investigation. NCR previously declined to address the hiring of Mr. Abuduwani's sister, and an NCR spokesman didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Ryan McConnell, a former federal prosecutor who has handled FCPA matters, said that the SEC would be looking for documents that establish some sort of quid pro quo or improper benefit was derived from the hire, or, failing that, a witness who could testify there was a corrupt intent.
'I'd be looking for any benefit they got around the time they were hired, say a contract or award that was given right after you hired these people,' said Mr. McConnell, now a partner at McConnell Sovany LLP. 'Once I found a benefit, I'd try to find a nexus between the hire and the benefit.'
U.S. companies have long been on notice that the practice of hiring relatives of foreign officials requires careful consideration. About 30 years ago, the Justice Department received a request for legal advice from an American company seeking to hire a marketing firm whose principals were related to the head of state of a foreign country.
In a 1984 opinion, which omitted the name of the company and other identifying details, the Justice Department said it wouldn't prosecute the company for hiring the firm, given that it had carefully vetted the marketing firm's qualifications and made the marketing firm promise in writing that it wouldn't pass on any funds to foreign officials.
Joe Palazzolo / Christopher M. Matthews / Serena Ng
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