英多家銀行拉黑GSK中國醜聞涉事偵探
A British private investigator jailed in China in the wake of GlaxoSmithKline’s bribery scandal has been blacklisted by banks, including HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland, after authorities helped bring him back to the UK.
在葛蘭素史克(GlaxoSmithKline)爆出行賄醜聞後在中國被捕的英國私家偵探韓飛龍(Peter Humphrey)，在當局幫助下遣返回英國後，被包括匯豐銀行(HSBC)和蘇格蘭皇家銀行(RBS)在內的多家銀行列入黑名單。
Peter Humphrey, who was convicted after a closed-door trial in 2014 of illegally obtaining information on Chinese citizens, told the Financial Times that HSBC had withdrawn his personal and business accounts without explanation on his repatriation last year after a decades-long relationship. RBS’s offshore arm, with whom he had banked since 2012, also pulled services.
韓飛龍2014年在一次不公開審理後被判非法獲取中國公民信息。他向英國《金融時報》表示，在他去年被遣返英國之後，匯豐銀行已不顧數十年的業務往來，註銷了他的個人和商業戶頭。而自2012年以來他一直開展銀行業務的RBS離岸機構也同樣中斷了對他的服務。
While the banks declined to comment to the FT on specific cases, Mr Humphrey believes that the reason they closed his accounts was because of a confidential database used by 49 of the world’s 50 biggest banks, including HSBC and RBS.
雖然上述銀行拒絕向英國《金融時報》發佈對個案的置評，韓飛龍卻認爲它們關閉其戶頭的原因來自一個機密數據庫。包括匯豐銀行和RBS在內，全球50家最大銀行中有49家使用了這個數據庫。
World-Check, owned by Thomson Reuters, is used by banks, law firms and government agencies to research individuals and go through sanctions lists. Banks use it as part of their “know your client” checks, or KYC for short, that they must carry out as part of anti-money-laundering rules.
這個名爲World-Check的數據庫歸湯森路透(Thomson Reuters)所有，它被多家銀行、律師事務所和政府機關用於研究個人狀況及查閱制裁名單。銀行將該數據庫用於反洗錢規定強制要求的“瞭解你的客戶”(KYC)類型的審查。
But detractors allege that the database serves as an unaccountable blacklist, aggregating unverified blogs and newspaper articles, including some from state-sponsored sources, as well as court judgments from around the world.
不過，該數據庫的貶低者則稱，該數據庫是個不負責任的黑名單，彙集的信息除了全球的法庭判決，還有未經確認的博客和新聞報道，其中包括部分來自政府贊助信息源的信息。
The database’s own fine print states that it provides merely a snapshot that “should be read by users in the context of the fuller details available in the external sources provided” and cautions their customers to verify the information. Individuals can request changes to inaccurate information.
該數據庫的小字說明聲稱，它只是提供了一個信息快照，“用戶應將其放在所附外部信息源提供的更詳盡細節下解讀”，並提醒客戶要對信息加以確認。此外，個人也可要求對其中不準確的信息加以更正。
World-Check said in a statement that it aggregated information from government watch lists and sanctions databases, as well as “publicly available information from reputable sources in order to help clients comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulations. Customers can then use this data to follow their own regulatory compliance policies and procedures.”
World-Check在一份聲明中表示，它所收集的信息來自政府監控名單及制裁數據庫，以及“有聲譽的信息來源公開提供的信息，以幫助客戶遵守反洗錢和反恐金融監管規定。這樣，客戶就可以使用這些數據，執行自己的監管合規政策及流程。”
HSBC said in a statement: “HSBC has a moral and regulatory obligation to have systems and controls in place to manage financial crime risk. As part of managing this risk, we periodically review our customer relationships and in doing so we gather information from a wide range of sources and take a number of factors into consideration.”
匯豐銀行在一份聲明中表示：“匯豐有建立管控系統和管控手段以管理金融犯罪風險的道德和監管義務。爲管理這一風險，我們會週期性審覈客戶的各種關係。爲做到這一點，我們會從各種信息來源收集信息，並將多種因素考慮在內。”
RBS declined to comment.
RBS則拒絕置評。
An insider at one high-street bank said that while cross-checking might occur for potentially lucrative new customers, a red flag for anyone else would be enough to terminate any relationship.
一家主流大銀行的一位內部人士表示，儘管銀行或許會複查一下具備潛在盈利前景的新客戶，對於其他任何客戶，一個紅燈就足以終結任何業務往來了。
World-Check’s results for Mr Humphrey, seen by the FT, group him with GSK and its former employees charged with bribery, even though he was not part of that investigation. The records go on to state that he was arrested then subsequently jailed “for alleged illegal trafficking of personal information”.
英國《金融時報》看到，儘管韓飛龍與GSK行賄案調查無關，World-Check中對他的查找結果依然將其與GSK及其被控行賄的前僱員歸爲一類。該記錄接着表示，他先是被拘，隨後“因涉嫌非法交易個人信息”入獄。
“That is erroneous and injurious; there was no ‘trafficking’ or buying and selling of information. We produced in-depth reports,” said Mr Humphrey. “The database also equates the validity of convictions in a country like China with those of countries with a long rule of law.”
韓飛龍表示：“這種說法錯誤而有害：根本就不存在信息買賣。我們只是製作了深度調查報告。這個數據庫還將中國這類國家的判決有效性，和擁有漫長法治歷史的國家劃等號。”
Mr Humphrey and his wife were detained by Chinese authorities in 2013 after helping GSK, which was not mentioned during their trial, identify the source of a secretly filmed sex tape of its then top executive in China in bed with his girlfriend.
2013年，韓飛龍和他的妻子被中國當局羈押，原因是此前他們曾幫助GSK追溯到一個磁帶的源頭，這一祕密拍攝的性愛磁帶中含有時任GSK中國最高主管與女友的牀上鏡頭。
Thomson Reuters declined to comment on any specific case, citing data privacy laws. The FT competes with the company in providing news.
湯森路透援引數據隱私方面的法律，拒絕置評任何個案。目前，英國《金融時報》與該公司存在新聞報道上的競爭關係。
