杰弗里·爱泼斯坦（Jeffrey Epstein）再次困扰着华尔街最具影响力的公司之一：阿波罗全球管理公司（Apollo Global Management）杠杆配资公司网站。
在爱泼斯坦案迫使亿万富翁莱昂·布莱克辞去阿波罗全球管理公司CEO职务五年后，近期曝光的数百万份与爱泼斯坦相关的文件显示，布莱克的继任者、现任CEO马克·罗文曾在爱泼斯坦2008年因介绍未成年人卖淫认罪并服刑18个月后，仍与其多次会面。这些文件引发了关于该公司与这名已定罪性犯罪者之间关系的新质疑，以及公司就该关联向投资者透明度的质疑。
两家颇具影响力的教师工会本周向美国证券交易委员会（SEC）致信，呼吁联邦监管机构调查阿波罗公司就其与爱泼斯坦关系所表现出的"明显缺乏坦诚"。这两家工会已向阿波罗公司承诺投入至少275亿美元资金。
阿波罗公司目前正在进行危机公关。这家资产管理巨头本周向客户坚称，爱泼斯坦文件中并无“新内容”，且罗文与这位身败名裂的人物不存在“业务或个人关系”。阿波罗表示，尽管爱泼斯坦多次试图与公司高管（布莱克除外）开展业务往来，但其所有请求均遭拒绝。布莱克曾在2020年底表示，“事后看来”，他对与爱泼斯坦的“任何关联”深感懊悔。
对阿波罗的关注表明，尽管爱泼斯坦早在2008年就因介绍未成年人卖淫认罪，但近期其大量文件的披露，再度引发了人们对其与华尔街及美国企业界权贵关系的质疑。新曝光的与爱泼斯坦的往来关系、人脉网络及对话记录，可能危及知名品牌和商界领袖的声誉。
对某些人而言，后果相当严重。爱泼斯坦案文件近日再度引发商界领袖辞职潮，包括高盛集团首席律师、知名律所保罗·韦斯的董事长以及凯悦酒店集团的执行董事长。
阿波罗与爱泼斯坦
总部位于纽约的阿波罗资产管理公司管理着近1万亿美元的资产，多年来因其与爱泼斯坦的关联而备受困扰。该公司联合创始人布莱克于2021年辞职，此前一项调查发现，2012年至2017年间，布莱克向爱泼斯坦支付的款项总计达1.58亿美元。
但由德普律师事务所（Dechert LLP）主导的调查指出，布莱克2019年声称自己"从未向阿波罗公司其他高管推荐爱泼斯坦的服务"这一说法"虽非虚假，但本可表述得更准确"。该律所报告还表示，罗温与阿波罗联合创始人乔希·哈里斯均"未曾雇佣爱泼斯坦，也未就个人事务咨询过他"。
德普报告指出："显然，除了布莱克之外，阿波罗公司的其他员工从未认真考虑过雇佣爱泼斯坦，更不用说实际聘用他了。"
德汇律师事务所未就置评请求作出回应。
然而，教师工会指出，美国司法部公布的数百份爱泼斯坦案文件中提及罗文，并显示阿波罗公司现任首席执行官在2008年认罪及18个月刑期后的数年间，仍多次与爱泼斯坦会面。
例如，2016年2月，爱泼斯坦（Epstein）和罗文（Rowan）曾通过电子邮件讨论阿波罗公司（Apollo）潜在的税收倒置计划——这种税务操作旨在通过将公司注册地迁至低税率国家来降低企业税负。两人还探讨了聘请罗斯柴尔德银行（Rothschild）协助完成这项潜在倒置方案的可能性。
爱泼斯坦在给罗文的邮件中写道：“如果你认为合适，我可以参加这次电话会议。利用罗斯柴尔德进行反向收购能构建出有趣的结构。”
罗温回答道：“同意。”
2016年3月，罗温（Rowan）与爱泼斯坦（Epstein）分享了似乎是阿波罗公司内部关于一项税务资产估值的邮件往来。
2016年9月，阿波罗附属公司高管布拉德·韦克斯勒（Brad Wechsler）发送了一封电子邮件，要求阿波罗员工在涉及某些税务问题时抄送爱泼斯坦（Epstein），因其具备“实质性专业知识”。
教师工会在信中写道：“我们认为，阿波罗公司目前向投资者传达的信息，对于该公司及其合伙人与爱泼斯坦之间的关系描述既不准确也不完整。相关记录必须予以澄清。”
教师工会陷入困境
美国教师联合会和美国大学教授协会在周二的一封信中提出，阿波罗集团未就其与爱泼斯坦的关系坦诚相告。
工会组织在致美国证券交易委员会执法部门负责人的信中写道："我们对阿波罗公司似乎无法坦诚说明爱泼斯坦与其公司及合伙人之间在个人、社交及职业层面的关联程度感到不安。" "虽不确定这种隐瞒态度的具体动机，但此事应当被彻查。"
具体而言，工会认为美国证券交易委员会（SEC）应调查阿波罗公司的声明是否构成“重大虚假或误导性陈述”。
美国证券交易委员会（SEC）拒绝置评。阿波罗公司未回应评论请求。
教师工会指出，上月底公布的爱泼斯坦文件显示，阿波罗公司2021年向股东关于爱泼斯坦的声明"至少存在误导性"，且当时的高管"很可能明知这些声明具有误导性"。
工会高管表示，阿波罗公司在2021年1月向美国证券交易委员会提交的德杰律师事务所调查报告"刻意淡化爱泼斯坦与其他阿波罗高管的关联"。
阿波罗表示“并无新意”
阿波罗公司在周三致客户与合作伙伴的信函中，驳斥了“大量片面报道及部分群体夹带私货的行为”。
阿波罗全球管理公司总裁詹姆斯·泽尔特在信中表示："从阿波罗的角度来看，这些文件并无新内容。除莱昂·布莱克外，马克·罗文及阿波罗其他人员均与杰弗里·爱泼斯坦不存在任何商业或个人往来。"
策尔特表示，在“特定情况下”，罗文及其他阿波罗公司员工曾向爱泼斯坦提供信息，这些信息与这名已定罪的性犯罪者为布莱克公司所做的“税务工作”有关。
阿波罗公司高管表示："尽管爱泼斯坦（Epstein）先生曾试图与布莱克（Black）先生以外的其他联合创始人合作，但每次都被拒绝。透明度和开放性是我们的核心价值观，我们不会因外界压力而停止发声。"
为董事会和高管提供咨询服务的价值联盟公司创始人兼首席执行官埃莉诺·布洛克斯汉姆向CNN表示，她认为工会推动美国证券交易委员会（SEC）展开调查的诉求“理由充分”。
她表示：“美国证券交易委员会（SEC）在这件事上未能履行职责。当投资者不得不公开指责他们时，这实在令人遗憾。”
布洛克斯汉姆将阿波罗公司本周的回应形容为“非常无力”，并质疑为何罗温与爱泼斯坦的会面及往来信函此前未被披露。
布洛克斯汉姆表示：“当人们委托受托人进行投资时，他们寻求的是诚信的经纪人。若在此过程中缺乏诚实与坦率，客户理应感到震惊。”
爱泼斯坦事件引发的审查令阿波罗公司雪上加霜，该公司今年市值已缩水约五分之一。
由于市场对私募信贷基金健康状况的担忧引发资产管理行业抛售潮，阿波罗公司（Apollo）股价周四再度暴跌6%。
Jeffrey Epstein is once again haunting one of the most powerful firms on Wall Street: Apollo Global Management.
Five years after the Epstein scandal forced billionaire Leon Black to step down as Apollos CEO, the recent release of millions of documents related to Epstein show Blacks replacement, current CEO Marc Rowan, met with Epstein multiple times years after Epsteins 2008 guilty plea to procuring a minor for prostitution and his 18-month jail sentence. The Epstein files have raised new questions about the firms ties to the convicted sex offender and its transparency to investors about those links.
Two powerful teachers unions that have committed at least $27.5 billion to Apollo wrote a letter to the SEC this week calling for federal regulators to investigate Apollos apparent lack of candor over its relationship with Epstein.
Now, Apollo is doing damage control. The asset management giant responded this week by insisting to clients that there is nothing new in the Epstein documents and Rowan did not have a business or personal relationship with the disgraced figure. Despite multiple attempts from Epstein to do business with Apollos executives, other than Black, Apollo said Epsteins requests were all rejected. Black said in late 2020 that with the benefit of hindsight, he deeply regretted having had any involvement with Epstein.
The focus on Apollo shows how the recent release of a trove of Epstein documents is raising new questions about his ties to powerful figures on Wall Street and across Corporate America long after his 2008 guilty plea to procuring a minor for prostitution. Newly discovered relationships, connections and conversations with Epstein risk damaging the reputations of major brands and business leaders.
For some, the consequences have been significant. The Epstein files have fueled a new flurry of resignations from business leaders in recent weeks, including the top lawyer at Goldman Sachs, the chairman of prestigious law firm Paul Weiss and the executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels .
Apollo and Epstein
New York-based Apollo, which manages nearly $1 trillion in assets, has been dogged by its ties to Epstein for years. Black, one of its co-founders, resigned in 2021 after a probe found Blacks payments to Epstein totaled $158 million from 2012 to 2017.
But that probe, led by law firm Dechert LLP said that Blacks 2019 claims that he never promoted Mr. Epsteins services to other Apollo senior executives were not false but could have been more precise. The law firm report also said that neither Rowan nor Apollo co-founder Josh Harris hired Epstein or consulted with him on their personal matters.
And it is clear that no Apollo employee other than Black ever seriously considered hiring Epstein, much less actually retained him, the Dechert report said.
Dechert did not respond to a request for comment.
However, the teachers unions note that hundreds of documents Epstein files released by the DOJ reference Rowan and indicate the current Apollo CEO met with Epstein multiple times years after the 2008 guilty plea and his 18-month jail sentence.
For example, in February 2016 Epstein and Rowan traded emails about a potential Apollo corporate inversion, a tax maneuver designed to lower a companys tax rate by reincorporating in a lower-tax country. The two discussed tapping banking firm Rothschild for the potential inversion.
i can join the call if you think appropriate, Epstein emailed Rowan. using rothschild for the inversion allows interesting structures.
Rowan replied: Agreed.
In March 2016, Rowan shared with Epstein what appears to be internal Apollo email correspondence about the valuation of a tax asset.
In September 2016, Brad Wechsler, an executive at an Apollo affiliate, sent an email asking Apollo staffers to keep Epstein copied on certain tax matters for his substantive expertise.
The teachers union wrote in the letter: We believe investor communications from Apollo currently give an inaccurate and incomplete picture of the firm and its partners connections to Epstein. The record must be clarified.
Teachers unions troubled
The American Federation of Teachers and the American Association of University Professors, argued in a letter on Tuesday that Apollo has not been upfront about its links to Epstein.
We are troubled by Apollos seeming inability to be forthcoming about the extent to which Epstein was a personal, social and professional associate of the firm and its partners, the unions wrote in the letter to the director of enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission. We dont know exactly what motivates that lack of candor, but it should be investigated.
Specifically, the unions argued the SEC should investigate whether Apollos statements could be considered materially false or misleading.
The SEC declined to comment. Apollo did not respond to a request for comment.
The teachers unions argue that the Epstein files released late last month suggest Apollos prior statements in 2021 to shareholders about Epstein were at the very least, misleading and that senior executives at the time would likely have known they were misleading.
The union executives said an investigative report from law firm Dechert LLP that Apollo made public in an SEC filling in January 2021 takes pains to minimize Epsteins ties with other Apollo executives.
Apollo says nothing new
In a Wednesday letter to clients and partners, Apollo pushed back against the flurry of coverage and certain constituents pushing their own agendas.
From an Apollo perspective, theres nothing new62in these documents. Neither Marc Rowan nor anyone else at Apollo (excluding Leon Black) had either a business or personal relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, Apollo President James Zelter wrote in the letter.
Zelter said that in select instances Rowan and other Apollo employees provided information to Epstein in connection to the convicted sex offenders tax work for Black.
While Mr. Epstein sought to do work with the Apollo co-founders other than Mr. Black, it was declined at every turn, the Apollo executive said. Transparency and accessibility are hallmarks of who we are, and we will not be dissuaded from speaking out.
Eleanor Bloxham, founder and CEO of The Value Alliance Company, which advises boards and executives, told CNN that she believes the unions have a strong case pushing for an SEC investigation.
The SEC has not done its duty on this. Its a shame when investors have to call them out, she said.
Bloxham described Apollos response this week as very weak and questioned why Rowans meetings and correspondence with Epstein was not previously disclosed.
When people invest with fiduciaries, they are looking for an honest broker. A lack of honesty and forthrightness here ought to be a shocker to clients, Bloxham said.
The Epstein scrutiny adds to the financial headaches facing Apollo, which has lost about a fifth of its market value this year.
Apollo shares tumbled by another 6% on Thursday amid a selloff in the asset management industry sparked by worries about the health of private credit funds.杠杆配资公司网站
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