| Bladewire |
04-03-2017 11:25 AM |
Chinese Owned Company to Acquire MoneyGram
The Trump administration let the deadline for antitrust actions expire last week with no response.
Last month China suddenly granted Trump over 130 Trademarks he's been after for over a decade. Will Trump return the favor and let China acquire MoneyGram?
Acquiring MoneyGram will give the Chinese government access to the personal and financial information of millions of Americans, including thousand of American government & military personnel.
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Chinese grab for U.S. money transfer giant sets off alarms - POLITICO
Lawmakers, national security experts and veterans of the review process say the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is ill-designed to assess all the national security implications of international mergers in the age of information ? including the often-blurry picture of who actually controls foreign firms or who has access to an international company?s sensitive data.
Moreover, they say, it is severely understaffed to handle the rising number of complicated cases and lacks the authority to address evolving threats in telecommunications, media, agriculture and other industries.
In the case of Ant Financial?s proposed acquisition of MoneyGram, critics say, the fallout could include exposing personal data on millions of Americans.
CFIUS is expected to complete its review during the next several months.
"If the transaction is approved, China would gain direct access to a significant amount of transactional data in MoneyGram?s network," warns Rep. Robert Pittenger, a North Carolina Republican who serves on the Financial Services Committee and is vice chair of the Task Force on Terrorist Financing. "The data would include names, bank account numbers, as well as the location of MoneyGram customers."
Like other CFIUS critics, Pittenger wants a more rigorous review process to ensure such deals do not make the U.S. more vulnerable to foreign espionage, blackmail or cyberattacks. |
