必和必拓涉奧運行賄被罰2500萬美元

BHP Billiton has paid $25m to settle charges from the US Securities and Exchange Commission after the miner offered packages worth thousands of dollars to Foreign government officials to attend the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

必和必拓(BHP Billiton)已經支付2500萬美元罰款，用以了結來自美國證券交易委員會(SEC)的相關指控。此前，該礦業公司爲一些外國政府官員每人提供了價值數千美元的禮包，用於參加2008年北京奧運會。

The Anglo-Australian miner did not have enough internal controls over a hospitality programme that invited 176 government officials and employees of state-owned companies to the summer games, the SEC said on Wednesday. BHP was a sponsor of the 2008 event.

SEC週三表示，對一項邀請176名政府官員和國企高管參加北京奧運會的招待計劃，這家英澳礦業公司未能實施充分的內部控制。必和必拓是2008年北京奧運會贊助商之一。

Some invitations were given to officials who were connected to negotiations or regulatory issues involving BHP, the SEC said.

SEC稱，一些受邀官員涉及必和必拓的談判或監管問題的關聯。

Sponsored guests were mainly from countries in Africa and Asia, and enjoyed three and four-day hospitality packages with event tickets, hotels and sightseeing excursions worth between $12,000 and $16,000.

受贊助的客人主要來自非洲和亞洲國家，他們享受了三至四天的招待服務，包括賽事門票、酒店住宿和觀光遊覽在內，每人花費1.2萬至1.6萬美元不等。

“BHP Billiton footed the bill for foreign government officials to attend the Olympics while they were in a position to help the company with its business or regulatory endeavours,” said Andrew Ceresney, director of the enforcement division at the SEC, which said BHP had violated provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

SEC執法部主任安德魯•塞雷斯尼(Andrew Ceresney)說：“必和必拓爲外國政府官員參加奧運會買單，而這些人有能力幫助該公司發展業務或通過監管審批。”SEC稱，必和必拓違反了美國《反海外腐敗法》(Foreign Corrupt Practices Act)的規定。

The miner “recognised that inviting government officials to the Olympics created a heightened risk of violating anti-corruption laws, yet the company failed to implement sufficient internal controls to address that heightened risk”, Mr Ceresney said.

必和必拓“意識到邀請政府官員參加奧運會增加了違反反腐敗法的風險，而公司未能實施充分的內部控制以消除這一加劇的風險”，塞雷斯尼說。

In one instance detailed by the SEC, BHP began to negotiate with the mining minister in Burundi over a nickel exploration permit in late 2007 and early 2008, having already issued an invitation to attend the Olympics. Burundi’s mining minister and his wife subsequently went to Beijing as BHP guests for four days, the SEC said.

SEC詳述的一起實例顯示，必和必拓在2007年末至2008年初開始與布隆迪礦業部長就一項鎳礦勘探許可證進行談判之前，就已經向其發出了參加奧運會的邀請。SEC稱，布隆迪礦業部長與妻子隨後作爲必和必拓的客人在北京遊玩了四天。

BHP required managers to complete a hospitality application form for anyone they wanted to invite but the SEC said the miner did not give its staff training on how to complete forms or evaluate bribery risks.

必和必拓要求經理爲他們打算邀請的每一個人都填寫一份招待申請表，但SEC表示，該公司未給員工進行如何填寫表單或評估賄賂風險的培訓。

“A number of the hospitality applications were inaccurate or incomplete and BHP Billiton extended Olympic invitations to government officials connected to pending contract negotiations or regulatory dealings,” the SEC said.

“許多招待申請都不準確或者不完整，必和必拓向那些涉及正在進行的合同談判或交易審批的政府官員發出了奧運會邀請，”SEC稱。

Altogether 60 government officials went to the games as BHP guests, the SEC said.

SEC稱，共有60名政府官員以必和必拓客人的身份參加了北京奧運會。

BHP first acknowledged the US probe into its sponsorship programme for the 2008 Olympics — where it supplied the metal used to make the medals awarded to athletes — in 2009.

2009年，必和必拓首次承認了美國對其2008年奧運會贊助計劃的調查，該公司提供了製作運動員獎牌的金屬原料。

On Wednesday, the miner said the SEC order made “no findings of corrupt intent or bribery” and said it had now created an independent compliance department to approve any hospitality.

必和必拓週三表示，SEC的指控“沒有發現腐敗意圖或賄賂行爲”，並稱其現在已經建立了獨立的合規部來審覈所有招待事項。

“While BHP Billiton made efforts at the time to address the risks related to inviting government officials to the Olympics, the controls it relied upon were insufficient to satisfy the civil books and records and internal accounting controls requirements of the US statute,” BHP said.

“儘管必和必拓當時也在努力消除邀請政府官員參加奧運會的相關風險，但所依賴的控制手段不符合美國法律對民事檔案和內部會計控制的要求，”必和必拓表示。

Andrew Mackenzie, chief executive, said the company “has learnt from this experience and is better and stronger as a result”.

必和必拓行政總裁安德魯•麥肯齊(Andrew Mackenzie)表示，該公司“已從此事中汲取教訓，如今變得更好、更強大了”。

BHP said the US Department of Justice had concluded its own investigations and would take action. The miner said it continued to co-operate with an Australian federal police investigation announced in 2013.

必和必拓稱，美國司法部(Department of Justice)已經完成了自己的調查，並將採取行動。該公司表示將繼續配合澳大利亞聯邦警察2013年宣佈的一項調查。