美國證交會向阿里巴巴索取信息

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has asked the Alibaba Group for information about its dealings with a Chinese regulator, which criticised the ecommerce company for inadequately policing its merchants for counterfeit goods.

美國證券交易委員會(SEC)已要求阿里巴巴集團(Alibaba Group)提供其與一家中國監管機構打交道的信息。後者曾批評這家電商企業對在其平臺上銷售假冒商品的商家監督不力。

Alibaba in January denied it had potentially misled investors in the lead-up to its record $25bn initial public offering in the US last year, after China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce revealed that it had been questioning Alibaba’s supervision of sellers on its online platform.

1月，阿里巴巴否認其去年在美國進行創紀錄的250億美元IPO之前有可能誤導了投資者。此前中國國家工商行政管理總局透露，它曾質疑阿里巴巴對在線平臺賣家的監督。

In its IPO filings before it went public in September, Alibaba did not disclose that it had been questioned by the SAIC, including during a meeting with Chinese regulators last July.

阿里巴巴在去年9月上市之前提交的IPO申報文件中，並沒有披露其已經受到工商總局的質疑，包括曾在7月與中國監管機構開會。

Alibaba said on Friday that the SEC had asked for “background facts and other information related to our interaction” with the SAIC.

阿里巴巴上週五表示，SEC已要求獲得“有關我們與（中國工商總局）接觸的背景事實和其它信息”。

The company added that it was not obliged to disclose the SEC request but it wanted to publicise it because it valued being open with its investors. The Financial Times reported in January that the SEC was looking into Alibaba and the SAIC probe.

該公司補充說，它沒有義務披露SEC的要求，但它想要披露，因爲它重視對投資者保持公開。英國《金融時報》1月曾報道，SEC正在關注阿里巴巴和工商總局的調查。

“[We] feel that disclosure could help avoid false rumours or speculation,” Alibaba said. “The SEC letter states it should in no way be construed as Alibaba Group having done anything wrong or there having been any violation of securities law.”

“（我們）認爲披露可能有助於避免謠言或猜測，”阿里巴巴表示。“SEC的信指出，此舉不應被理解爲阿里巴巴集團有任何過錯，或者有任何違反證券法的行爲。”

The SEC declined to comment.

SEC拒絕發表評論。

The agency routinely questions companies after an IPO if issues are raised. The SEC questioned Facebook after its 2012 IPO was marred by technical glitches and issues over disclosures the company made about advertising revenue. The probe was dropped last year.

在冒出問題的情況下，該機構經常在IPO之後質疑新上市公司。2012年，Facebook的IPO受到技術故障影響，該公司就廣告營收所作的披露也引發一些問題，SEC曾就這些問題詢問該公司。這項調查已在去年撤銷。

Alibaba’s most recent IPO prospectus, which was filed on September 15, warned of “allegations and lawsuits claiming that items listed on our marketplaces are pirated, counterfeit or illegal”. It also warned of the “complex and developing” regulatory system in China. But there was no specific reference to the SAIC probe.

阿里巴巴在去年9月15日提交的最後一份招股說明書中警告，公司可能遭遇“指控和訴訟，說我們市場中出售的產品是盜版、假冒或非法的”。它還警告，中國存在“複雜和發展中的”監管體系，但沒有具體提及工商總局的調查。

However, since the SAIC disclosed its questions about Alibaba last month there has been conflicting information about whether the regulator wrote a formal paper about the probe, or merely revealed informal notes from a meeting about the issue.

然而，自工商總局上月披露其對阿里巴巴提出的問題以來，對於該監管機構寫了一份關於這項調查的正式文件，還是隻是披露了有關該問題的一個會上的非正式筆記，各方提供了相互矛盾的信息。

Alibaba has denied misleading investors and Joe Tsai, executive vice-chairman, said in January the SAIC report was “an inaccurate and unfair attack”. The accusations have also sparked shareholder lawsuits in the US.

阿里巴巴否認誤導投資者，執行副主席蔡崇信(Joe Tsai)在1月份表示，工商總局的報告是一次“不實及不公平的攻擊”。相關指控已在美國引發了股東訴訟。

“Alibaba has never requested the SAIC to delay the publication of any report,” said Mr Tsai, who described the July meeting with the SAIC as routine. “We have a zero tolerance policy towards counterfeits on our platform because the health and integrity of our marketplaces depend on consumer trust.”

“阿里巴巴並沒有要求工商總局延遲公佈任何報告，”蔡崇信表示。他形容去年7月與工商總局的會議是例行的。“對於我們平臺上的假貨我們始終採取的是零容忍的態度，因爲我們平臺的健康和完整取決於消費者的信任。”

At the end of January Alibaba and the SAIC vowed to work together to tackle counterfeiting.

1月底，阿里巴巴和工商總局誓言聯手打擊售假行爲。