Chapter 37 Chapter 35 Intermediary Organization "Grey Survival"

Intermediary organizations are easy to become the common rent-seeking object of both parties in the transaction.In the current anti-corruption struggle, strict supervision of intermediary organizations has become an unavoidable and urgent task. From June 9th to 10th, 2009, heads of discipline inspection and supervision agencies from all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), 13 central state agencies, ministries, discipline inspection teams (discipline inspection commissions), supervision bureaus and relevant business departments gathered in Xiamen to discuss the corruption of intermediary organizations. Prevention and control measures.

It is understood that at the National Symposium on Corruption Prevention and Control of Intermediary Organizations held by the National Bureau of Corruption Prevention and the State Council Correction Office, seven provinces and cities including Fujian, Hubei, Guangdong, Chongqing, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance, and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce ( Department) introduced the practice of developing intermediary organizations to prevent and control corruption. Qu Wanxiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, deputy director of the Ministry of Supervision, deputy director of the National Bureau of Corruption Prevention, and deputy director of the State Council's Correction Office, pointed out at the meeting: "In recent years, various regions and departments have actively explored the promotion of standardized development of market intermediary organizations, but the market is restricted. Some deep-seated problems of the healthy development of intermediary organizations still exist and need to be resolved urgently.”

Some outsiders predicted that although this meeting appeared to be very low-key, it was held against the background of the increasingly serious corruption of intermediary organizations in our country, which means that a regulation and rectification of intermediary organizations is being brewed at high levels. In recent years, with the continuous deepening of my country's market economy reform, intermediary organizations have assumed more and more social functions such as service, communication, justice, and supervision that have been transferred down from government departments, and play a very important role in modern society.

The reporter's investigation found that while the intermediary organizations in our country are developing rapidly, the cases of their participation in and causing rent-seeking corruption are also showing a sharp increase.Especially in some major corruption cases, intermediary organizations directly participate in illegal and criminal activities such as bribery, money laundering, and embezzlement of state-owned assets, which seriously damages their image and credibility in society. Many interviewed experts believe that intermediary organizations have the conditions to deal directly with the government and enterprises, and can easily become the target of common rent-seeking for both parties to the transaction.Under the current severe situation of our country's anti-corruption struggle, it has become an unavoidable and urgent task to carry out stricter supervision on intermediary organizations.

The so-called intermediary organizations refer to those established in accordance with certain laws, regulations, rules or entrusted by the government to perform functions such as service, communication, appraisal, and notarization in economic and social activities, and to implement social, technical, executive, and service behaviors. institutions or social organizations. In recent years, my country's intermediary organizations have developed rapidly, covering dozens of fields such as accounting and auditing, evaluation supervision, legal services, real estate intermediaries, and technical consulting.According to the "2008 Statistical Bulletin on the Development of Civil Affairs", by the end of 2008, the total number of registered social organizations was close to 400,000, of which 220,000 were social groups, an increase of 6.3% over the same period of the previous year; 178,000 were private non-enterprise units , an increase of 3.5% over the same period of the previous year; 1,390 foundations, an increase of 21 over the same period of the previous year.

It is understood that my country's intermediary organizations can be roughly divided into four categories: the first category is various industry associations, chambers of commerce and other industry organizations; the second category is semi-official intermediary organizations, such as the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade; Intermediary organizations that provide professional services or supervise economic activities for the society with professional knowledge, such as law firms, audit firms, engineering consulting companies, etc.; the fourth category is labor service companies, futures brokerage companies and other operating enterprises that specialize in brokerage business and company.

"Most of the intermediary organizations in our country are the product of the transformation of government functions and the downward transfer of power in the process of social transformation." Professor Li Shaorong, a doctoral supervisor at the School of Economics of Peking University, said in an interview with reporters, "These intermediary organizations are between enterprises, the government, and the market. Exercising the functions of service, communication, justice, and supervision is the support system to ensure the operation of the modern market economy. The existence of intermediary organizations is conducive to providing comprehensive and thoughtful services for both parties to the transaction in order to reduce transaction costs.”

According to the reporter's investigation, the development of my country's intermediary organizations is still immature, and the composition is quite complex, and some even have inextricable relations with the government.Although the institutional reform requires intermediary organizations to be decoupled from administrative agencies, the phenomenon of "two brands, one set of people" is still common in intermediary organizations in our country. “The heads of some intermediary organizations are themselves retired government officials or current government officials concurrently.” Yin Yungong, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told reporters, “These officials have unclear and unexplainable interest entanglements with intermediary organizations, and even some government officials Before retiring, he used the power in his hands to make profits for the intermediary organization, and after retirement, he legally served in the intermediary organization."

Some intermediary organizations have even become a place for the competent departments to carry out personnel reforms and resettle and divert personnel. In fact, they have become an additional management level between the government and enterprises, the market, and society, and have become a "buffer zone" for the government to streamline its institutions. The interviewed experts believe that the reason why some intermediary organizations in my country can survive is not because they have real market competitiveness, but because they have a special relationship with the competent authorities.Therefore, these intermediary organizations can easily obtain the necessary survival resources from the competent authorities.Conversely, intermediary organizations can easily become the power extension belt of the competent department.

The reporter's investigation found that intermediary organizations are an indispensable link in the combination of macro-control and market regulation, and justice and integrity are the foundation of their foothold.However, in the bribery and corruption chains of some major cases investigated and dealt with in our country, the figure of intermediary organizations is becoming more and more active. "When investigating and dealing with corruption cases of traveling abroad with public funds, it was found that some intermediary organizations played a role in fueling the flames." On May 7, 2009, the head of the National Bureau of Corruption Prevention told reporters this way.

According to reports, many intermediary organizations participated in the corruption cases of public funds going abroad (border) in the past. They not only forged invitation letters and sold them to the group organization at a high price, but also helped the group organization fabricate the schedule of overseas official activities to defraud the approval. In fact, most of the arrangements are tourism projects. In recent years, there have been numerous major corruption cases in which intermediary organizations have been directly involved. On February 27, 2009, Jiang Yong, former director of the Chongqing Municipal Planning Bureau, was sentenced to death with a suspended death sentence by the Chongqing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court.The court determined that through the intermediary company opened by his lover Tang Wei, Jiang Yong received a total of more than 16.15 million yuan from several real estate developers, and Jiang Yong alone accepted bribes of more than 1.81 million yuan. In 2006, after the demolition and reconstruction project of Wuyuan Bay Scenic Spot in Xiamen City was completed, when the audit department audited the use of demolition funds, it was found that the project had high standards and overpayment of compensation.Investigators found that a sewage ditch in the project was valued at 13 million yuan by Xiamen Zhiye Appraisal Co., Ltd.However, the re-evaluation by another evaluation organization entrusted by the public security department was only 2.86 million yuan. According to the exposed cases, in addition to bribery, money laundering, participation in the embezzlement of state-owned assets, and damage to the rights and interests of shareholders and consumers, some intermediary organizations also hold the attitude of "receiving money and giving convenience" Engaged in profit-seeking fraudulent activities, covering major project investment and construction, state-owned enterprise restructuring, land transfer evaluation, loan mortgage asset evaluation, company listing and annual financial audit, government procurement and many other fields. According to the reporter's investigation, some intermediary organizations assist corrupt officials and unscrupulous businessmen in black-box operations when evaluating land.The appraised value of the same piece of land is turned into cloud and rain, and there is naturally a shameful transaction of power and money behind it.Some intermediary organizations also provide false material certificates to meet the unreasonable or illegal needs of customers.For example, accounting firms help companies make false accounts, provide false audit opinions, and even assist unqualified companies to package and go public, helping listed companies and securities companies to "circulate money." "In construction project bidding and government procurement, some suppliers, contractors and purchasing units, supervisory agency personnel, and bidding and procurement agencies maliciously colluded and colluded with each other to engage in corrupt transactions by manipulating bidding." Ph.D. Professor Li Chengyan, the supervisor, pointed out in an interview with reporters, “In the process of restructuring state-owned enterprises in our country, some intermediary organizations have evaluated state-owned assets from high to low, helping individual party and government officials and former heads of enterprises to eat up state-owned and collective property.” "Some intermediary organizations provide false forensics and technical assistance for judges in personal and relationship cases." A staff member of an evaluation agency in Beijing revealed to reporters, "Some evaluation, appraisal, and auction agencies also collaborate with lawyers and judges internally and externally. They resorted to fraud in the lawsuit." Many interviewed experts believe that the corruption of intermediary organizations is more deceptive and harmful than the corruption of party and government officials.Because, in the corruption process of intermediary organizations, there are almost no procedural violations, and they can use the cloak of "legal" procedures to cover up dirty transactions. "Under the conditions of a market economy, intermediary organizations are a bridge between the government and enterprises." Li Shaorong believes that "due to the intervention of intermediary organizations, the bribery and bribery parties can complete power-for-money transactions without meeting each other, making corruption more concealed." .The number of cases has shown that without the involvement of these intermediaries, many corrupt practices would not have been possible at all.” "Due to the illegal behavior of individual intermediary organizations, intermediaries and industry associations have lost their original objectivity and fairness." Professor Qi Shanhong, a doctoral supervisor at Nankai University, told reporters, "The corrupt behavior of intermediary organizations has not only corrupted a large number of government officials, but also The false certification documents issued by them also affect the decision-making level and quality of the government, and even lead to mistakes in decision-making by government departments, directly causing problems such as the loss of state-owned assets, hidden dangers in production safety, and shabby projects." In the view of relevant experts, the corruption of intermediary organizations is related to the quality of employees and self-discipline of the industry, but the crux of the problem lies in the fact that intermediary organizations have a strong dependence on government departments from the beginning, and there are problems such as insufficient transformation of government functions and imperfect laws and regulations , Lack of supervision by regulatory authorities and other deep-seated reasons. According to the reporter's understanding, the personnel appointment and dismissal rights and the main source of funds of some intermediary organizations in our country are still controlled by the government, and some public departments even hold the right to designate the intermediary organization's business.Such an intermediary organization can only survive awkwardly in the gap between power and the market. "my country's intermediary organizations are not yet completely independent market entities." Professor Qiao Xinsheng, director of the Social Development Research Center of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, believes that "although intermediary organizations engage in entrusted operations under the guise of market entities, they have never been separated from the administration. The relationship of power. Therefore, it is not surprising that they participate in the distribution of benefits and become operators of power corruption." However, the legal norms of intermediary organizations are not perfect, which is an important reason for intermediary corruption. "Our country does not yet have a unified and complete intermediary organization law." Du Liyuan, a lawyer from Beijing Zhongsheng Law Firm, admitted frankly in an interview with reporters, "my country's current laws and regulations related to intermediary organizations are relatively scattered and have not formed a complete system. Seen in various normative documents such as Notarization Law, Lawyer Law, Regulations on the Registration and Administration of Social Organizations, etc. Due to imperfect laws, weak supervision and lack of self-discipline, intermediary organizations participate in corruption with low cost, low risk and high income, thus self-indulgence Inextricable." "Although my country's criminal law contains content involving intermediary organization crimes, the criminal punishment regulations are too rough and not strong in operability, which weakens the crackdown on such crimes." A prosecutor from the Beijing Municipal Procuratorate believes, "Because intermediary organizations have The advantages of professional skills, business authority and legal status, coupled with the fact that such crimes do not appear to be violent or dangerous, make it difficult to discover and solve such cases, and have also prevented many illegal intermediary organizations from being attacked." my country's ineffective punishment of intermediary organizations' violations of laws and regulations has also indulged intermediary organization corruption to a large extent.Some interviewed experts pointed out that the China Securities Regulatory Commission’s penalties for accounting firms that help listed companies commit fraud are limited to warnings, confiscation of illegal gains, fines, and revocation of the practicing qualifications of those directly responsible. The most severe is the revocation of licenses. There is no way to deter corruption. Many interviewed experts believe that the development of intermediary organizations is related to the standardization of my country's market economic order and the improvement of the market economic system.Therefore, we must attach great importance to the problems and hidden dangers in the development of intermediary organizations, actively take effective measures to solve them, and ensure the healthy development of intermediary organizations. In fact, the corruption of my country's intermediary organizations has attracted the attention of the central government.At the Second Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Commission for Discipline Inspection held in January 2008, He Guoqiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, pointed out that it is necessary to "regulate the service and charging behavior of industry associations and market intermediary organizations." On April 2, 2008, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on the Implementation of the Correction Work in 2008", pointing out: "Strengthen standardized management and seriously solve the problem of public service industries, industry associations and market intermediary organizations infringing on the interests of the masses and enterprises." "To control the corruption of intermediary organizations, the most important thing is to reform the property rights of intermediary organizations and change their dependence on the administration under the premise of strictly restricting administrative power. Only in this way can intermediary organizations truly participate in the market In the competition, serve the market economy and serve the whole society." Yin Yungong said. "Survival and development of my country's intermediary organizations should be carefully studied, classified management should be implemented, and management should be standardized." Professor Gong Weibin of the National School of Administration told reporters, "my country's current intermediary organizations include both for-profit and non-profit organizations. For-profit Sexual intermediary organizations are more of an enterprise organization with market-oriented characteristics, and should be registered with the industrial and commercial department, and accept its supervision and services; non-profit intermediary organizations are more of the nature of NGOs (non-governmental organizations), and should be accepted by social organization management agencies. Supervision and services. It is necessary to improve the legislation on social organizations including intermediary organizations, improve the internal operating mechanism of intermediary organizations, accelerate the transformation of government functions and institutional reforms, implement the separation of administration from enterprises, and separation of government affairs, and strengthen and improve the government’s supervision of intermediary organizations. management and services, and increase social supervision of intermediary organizations.” "Regulating intermediary organizations should start from three aspects: legislation, supervision, and industry self-discipline." Du Liyuan suggested, "First of all, the relevant laws and regulations on intermediary organizations should be improved, and the "Social Intermediary Organization Law", "National Organization Law" and "Industry Association Law" should be promulgated as soon as possible. Law” and other special laws, regulations and their implementation rules; secondly, form a strong administrative supervision mechanism for intermediary organizations’ violations and corruption, and coordinate with industry and commerce, finance, auditing, supervision, finance, anti-corruption, anti-money laundering and other departments when necessary Joint law enforcement; third, establish and improve the industry self-discipline system of intermediary organizations, improve professional ethics and disciplinary measures, promote the construction of industry integrity, standardize the behavior of practitioners, establish a sense of honor in the industry, and give full play to the initiative of intermediary organizations in self-management and self-discipline Sex and positivity, that’s what matters.” It is understood that developed countries generally have strict laws and regulations on intermediary organizations.For example, since 1917, the United States has successively promulgated laws and regulations such as general agency regulations, contract regulations, license laws, and professional theory rules to restrict real estate intermediary organizations. Among them, the real estate license law is the most stringent and has the greatest effect.These regulations have become the basis for the long-term healthy development of the real estate intermediary industry in the United States.Germany restricts the behavior of industry associations through various laws and regulations such as the Constitution and the Association Law. "The crackdown on corruption of intermediary organizations should be strengthened, and according to the nature and severity of social intermediary organization fraud, violations, and corruption, various punishment measures such as administrative punishment, economic compensation, and criminal prosecution should be adopted, and the number of intermediary organizations and their employees should be increased. illegal risks and costs." Qi Shanhong said. "In order to ensure the healthy development of intermediary organizations, in addition to increasing regulations at the legislative level, we can also increase support from the policy level." Li Chengyan suggested, "The entry threshold for intermediary organizations should be raised, and the system reform of audit and evaluation institutions should be promoted. , and gradually establish and improve the civil compensation liability, occupational insurance system, and partner property registration system of audit and evaluation agencies, so as to improve the risk awareness and legal responsibility awareness of intermediary organizations and maintain the reputation of the entire industry." The interviewed experts believe that with the development of economic globalization, my country's market transactions are becoming more standardized, and intermediary organizations are facing unprecedented opportunities.Then, under the legal framework, how to perform their functions fairly and honestly is the proper meaning of the intermediary organization's own development.