Many compliance practitioners are now being required to add data privacy and information security to their remit. As with most risks, they can be managed with a process with which many anti-corruption compliance practitioners are familiar. A recent report caught the eye of The Man From FCPA about the attempted takeover of the U.S. company MoneyGram International Inc. by the Chinese behemoth Ant Financial Services, owned by Chines billionaire, Jack Ma. Ant Financial (belying its name) is China’s largest online payments company.
The problem for U.S. regulators is two-fold. Obviously, an international online payments company not subject to U.S. sanctions requirements does not have to certify that complies with U.S. money-laundering laws and attendant concerns about terrorist financing. But there is also a data privacy angle to this potential merger. If it goes through, a Chinese company and potentially the Chinese government would have access to the full data of U.S. citizens who utilized a U.S. online payment company when it was U.S.-owned.
