螞蟻金服收購速匯金遭美國議員批評

Ant Financial’s $1.2bn takeover of MoneyGram has drawn fresh criticism from US lawmakers who say the acquisition of the US cash-transfer group by an affiliate of China’s Alibaba and the Chinese government poses a national security threat.

螞蟻金服(Ant Financial)以12億美元收購速匯金(MoneyGram)的交易再次招致美國議員的批評，他們稱由中國阿里巴巴(Alibaba)和中國政府的關聯公司收購這家美國匯款集團將對美國國家安全構成威脅。

In letters addressed to Steven Mnuchin, US Treasury Secretary, obtained by the Financial Times, Republican senators Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran said the Beijing-backed acquisition of MoneyGram could hurt America’s financial infrastructure.

在英國《金融時報》(Financial Times)拿到的寫給美國財政部長史蒂文姆努欽(Steven Mnuchin)的信中，共和黨參議員帕特羅伯茨(Pat Roberts)和傑瑞莫蘭(Jerry Moran)稱，由北京方面支持的收購速匯金的交易有可能損害美國的金融基礎設施。

Mounting opposition on the hill against Chinese acquisitions of US assets poses a dilemma for Jack Ma, the billionaire behind Alibaba, who has been positioning himself as a close friend of US President Donald Trump.

美國國會日益反對中國收購美國資產，這使得馬雲(Jack Ma)陷入兩難境地。馬雲是電商巨頭阿里巴巴背後的億萬富翁，他近來把自己定位爲美國總統唐納德特朗普(Donald Trump)的密友。

Last week, the founder of the Chinese ecommerce giant promised to bring 1m small US small businesses on to Alibaba’s platform in an effort to boost US exports to China. He has previously pledged to create 1m US jobs, a move lauded by Mr Trump.

上週，這位阿里巴巴的創始人承諾讓美國100萬家小企業入駐阿里巴巴平臺，以促進美國對華出口。他之前曾承諾在美國創造100萬個就業機會，此舉受到特朗普的稱讚。

Despite Mr Ma’s efforts to curry favour with the US president, several US lawmakers across party lines have requested an exhaustive review of the deal by the Committee on Foreign Investments in the US.

儘管馬雲爲討好特朗普付出了努力，但美國兩黨中有多位議員要求美國外國投資委員會(Committee on Foreign Investments)對這筆交易進行詳盡審查。

The committee led by the US Treasury, which brings together officials from other departments including the Pentagon and has the power to veto deals, is expected to issue a verdict on the transaction by midsummer, according to people briefed about the review.

該委員會由美國財政部牽頭，集結了包括五角大樓(Pentagon)在內的其他多個部門的官員，有權否決交易。據瞭解審查過程的知情人士表示，該委員會預計將在仲夏對該交易做出裁定。

Mr Roberts said the Chinese takeover of MoneyGram “should trigger no less concern than if a Chinese company were seeking to take control of a large, well-known bank”.

羅伯茨稱，中資收購速匯金“引發的擔憂不亞於中國企業尋求控制一家美國知名大型銀行”。

He added that the deal “highlights the inequity between US and Chinese companies when it comes to international e is virtually no chance that a US financial services company would be permitted to acquire a Chinese [rival]”.

他補充稱，該交易“突顯了美中企業之間在跨國收購方面的不平等……事實上美國金融服務公司不可能被允許收購中國（競爭對手）。”

Mr Moran said that handing over financial data of US citizens, including a large number of US military personnel, to a Chinese company partly owned by Chinese government funds merited careful evaluation.

莫蘭稱，把美國公民（包括大量軍事人員）的金融數據交給一家部分歸中國政府基金所有的中國企業，值得仔細評估。

Both senators are from Kansas, the headquarters of Euronet, a rival money transfer company that failed to gatecrash Ant’s deal with MoneyGram. Last month Euronet said its proposed offer for MoneyGram had greater certainty of completion as it did not require Cfius approval.

這兩位參議員都來自堪薩斯州，這裏是另一家匯款公司Euronet的總部所在地。Euronet未能成功攪局螞蟻金服對速匯金的收購。上月，Euronet表示，其擬議的對速匯金的收購完成的可能性更大，因爲Euronet不需要獲得美國外國投資委員會的批准。

MoneyGram and Ant have strongly rejected such criticism numerous times.

速匯金和螞蟻金服已多次強烈駁斥這些批評。

Alex Holmes, chief executive of MoneyGram, told the FT that allegations that Ant’s takeover posed a threat to US national security or a risk to the safety of US citizens’ personal data were untrue.

速匯金首席執行官亞歷克斯霍姆斯(Alex Holmes)告訴英國《金融時報》，有人稱螞蟻金服的收購對美國國家安全構成威脅或讓美國公民的個人數據安全面臨風險，這些說法是不正確的。

He also added that the recent trade deal between the US and China, where Beijing pledged access for rating agencies and credit card companies, indicated that the Trump administration welcomed Chinese investment in America.

他還補充稱，最近中美之間的貿易協議表明，特朗普政府歡迎中國在美投資。根據中美貿易協議，中國承諾允許評級機構和信用卡公司進入中國。

“Investment reciprocity between China and the US is not an issue in this transaction. The money transfer industry in China is open to foreign competition, and MoneyGram already has a robust business in China as do other money transfer companies,” Mr Holmes said.

霍姆斯表示：“在這筆交易中，中美之間的投資互惠不存在問題。中國的匯款行業向外國競爭對手開放，速匯金已在中國擁有穩健的業務，就像其他匯款公司一樣。

“Thanks to President Trump’s engagement with China, our two countries are on track to building an even stronger economic relationship. Investments in the US, like the one Ant will make in our company, are critical to creating new jobs and increasing economic growth in our country.”

“在特朗普總統與中國合作的氛圍下，我們兩國將構建更加強大的經濟聯繫。與螞蟻金服即將對我們公司做出的投資一樣，中國對美國的投資對於在我國創造新的就業和提高經濟增長至關重要。”

MoneyGram shareholders will vote on the deal on Tuesday.

速匯金股東將於週二就這筆交易進行投票表決。