The Man from FCPA is wrapping up a two-week study program in Oxford, focusing on the Tudors in film and print. The lecture sessions have been great and the field trips excellent. One of the biggest news events that occurred while I was in England was the bid by a Chinese state-controlled investment fund to purchase the storied English football club, the Liverpool Football Club (LFC). Full disclosure-The Man from FCPA is a LFC supporter.
In an article in The UK Times, Peter Evans noted there were several reasons for the entreaty. The first is that the President of China is a huge fan of English football. But equally important is the exportation of the Chinese brand. Evans wrote, “Owning a name with decades—sometimes centuries—of history bestows an immediate credibility not available by exporting homegrown assets. It is a way of planting the Chinese flag in western consumers’ consciousness.” Yet, there is one other clear result of such a purchase: It would subject the Chinese purchaser to the jurisdiction of the U.K. Bribery Act.
