Executive Director Jean-Marc F. Blanchard interviewed for Asian Sentinel story on Brilliance Boss’s HK Bribery Probe and Risks for JVs

On August 13, 2023, Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard, Founding Executive Director of the Mr. & Mrs. S.H. Wong Center for the Study of Multinational Corporations, was interviewed by Asian Sentinel regarding the arrest in Hong Kong of the chairman of Brilliance China Automotive Holdings and the arrest’s potential implications for its joint venture partners, which include BMW and Renault. According to Asian Sentinel, Brilliance manufactures and sells certain types of cars, mini-buses, and other vehicles in China for these German and French automobile firms. Dr. Blanchard suggested to Asian Sentinel that events like this can be potentially disruptive to operations because they produce uncertainty as employees await further information and guidance, create emotional distress, and induce extreme cautiousness. Blanchard further observed that episodes like this also fuel reputational risks that may impose costs on joint venture partners as they try to minimize them. Lastly, Blanchard noted that incidents such as this can engender funding risks as bankers may become cautious.

The full story appears in Toh Han Shih, “Brilliance Boss’s HK Bribery Probe Poses Risks for JV,” Asian Sentinel, August 13, 2023, https://www.asiasentinel.com/p/wu-xiao-an-hongkong-bribery-probe-risk. Copyright remains with the original holder.