Anti Corruption Drive Hits Baker & McKenzie In China?

Doesn’t look like corrupt practices have occurred but according to the Am Lawyer / Wall St Jnl report The China National Offshore Oil Company Ltd are nipping it in the bud just in case the woodwork starts to reveal things it shouldn’t….

http://www.americanlawyer.com/id=1202676922603/Report-Chinese-Oil-Giant-Severs-Baker–McKenzie-Ties-

The China National Offshore Oil Company Ltd. terminated its relationship with Baker & McKenzie and demoted one of the state-owned oil and gas giant’s in-house counsel, alleging that she had engaged in a conflict of interest by steering work to her husband, who is head of the firm’s Beijing office, according to a report this week by The Wall Street Journal.
Baker & McKenzie would not comment on the assertion that its relationship with Beijing-based CNOOC had concluded. The firm told The Am Law Daily that it had done nothing wrong.
“Baker & McKenzie has strict rules and guidelines about professional conduct,” said a statement from the 4,245-lawyer firm, the world’s largest by head count. “Based on all of the information we have reviewed, we have not identified any breach of any professional rules or internal Baker & McKenzie rules by our attorneys or employees in this matter.”
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that CNOOC’s chief legal officer, Zhao Liguo, told two other international firms in an email that an internal probe had concluded that one of its in-house counsel, Karen Xin Kang, violated company policies and Chinese regulations by accepting trips to Europe and Australia that were paid for by Baker & McKenzie, and that she also helped the firm win legal work from CNOOC. The newspaper notes that it reviewed the email, which states that Kang dated and married Baker & McKenzie partner Stanley Jia, chief representative of its Beijing office, but “did not withdraw from the conflict of interest after the marriage.”
Zhao also wrote in the email that he had terminated CNOOC’s relationship with Baker & McKenzie in March 2013, a couple of months before launching the probe that ended with Kang being disciplined, according to The Wall Street Journal. Baker & McKenzie declined to comment on the matter.
Attempts to discern Kang’s current status with the company were unsuccessful. CNOOC did not respond to an email from The Am Law Daily about whether Kang is still employed by the company and, if so, in what capacity. Attempts by The Am Law Daily to reach both Kang and Jia for comment Wednesday were also not successful.
Jia is the top lawyer in Baker & McKenzie’s Beijing office, which last year marked its 20th anniversary in China. As part of that occasion, Jia was quoted on Baker & McKenzie’s website stating that the firm “has been at the forefront of the development of the legal sector in China and has played a pivotal role in the economic growth of China over the decades.”
Jia handles foreign indirect investment projects in China, many involving the oil, gas and automotive industries, according to Baker & McKenzie’s website. One of the most prominent corporate M&A attorneys in China, Jia advises companies in negotiations with the Chinese government and regulators, as well as on overseas investments by state-owned enterprises.
Baker & McKenzie counseled CNOOC in late 2010 on its proposed $7.1 billion acquisition of BP’s Argentine crude oil producer Pan American, a deal that ultimately collapsed in 2011. The firm, led by Jia, also counseled CNOOC in 2010 on its $3.1 billion buy of a 50 percent stake in Bridas Corp., an Argentine oil and gas company. In May 2013, Baker & McKenzie quoted Jia on its Twitter feed as saying Chinese companies were becoming more “cautious and selective” in doing deals.
While China’s economy has slowed in recent months, it’s still one of the fastest-growing markets in the world. The country is now under the leadership of Xi Jinping, a Communist Party chief who became president in March 2013. Jinping has presided over a sweeping anticorruption crackdown at state-owned companies and other enterprises, as recently noted by sibling publication Corporate Counsel, causing some businesses to take preemptive actions.

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