经济学人28:印度银行进入Kotak时代

 　　Finance and Economics；Indian banking¹;Kotak moment;

　　财经；印度银行；Kotak的时代

　　At last, a bank that didn't fall victim to Goldman envy;

　　一家最终没有沦为“嫉妒高盛”的受害者的银行；

　　In 1993 two Goldman Sachs partners, Jon Corzine and Hank Paulson, who both later ran the bank, were hosting a dinner in Hong Kong and needed a guest who could talk about India. They invited a relative unknown, Uday Kotak, whose firm financed cars and discounted bills there. Three years later the two firms formed an Indian investment-banking joint³ venture.

　　1993年，高盛的两大合作者乔恩·科尔津和汉克·鲍尔森在香港举办了一场餐会，来应宴者须有能力探讨印度的情况。举办餐会的二人后来都开了银行。彼时他们邀请来了当时相对没名气的Uday Kotak。后者的公司在印度为轿车和折扣订单提供资助。三年后，两家公司合资成立了印度投资银行。

　　In March of this year Goldman's board met in India for the first time. Invited to the shindig were the big beasts of India Inc. Among them was Mr Kotak, now boss of a leading bank and a multibillionaire. “My objective is to build something sustainable that lasts 100 years,” says Mr Kotak, who is upbeat without being hyperbolic, not a trick all Indian tycoons⁴ manage.

　　今年三月，高盛的董事会在印度首次会面。受邀来到舞会的都是印企中的弄潮儿，其中就包括目前身家几十亿，掌管印度顶尖银行的Kotak先生。Kotak先生的说法虽然乐观但并不夸夸其谈：“我的目标是创立的东西能够长存百年”，这个目标可不是每个印度大亨都能做到的。

　　Kotak Mahindra Group's rise mirrors that of India. The bank was born in 1985, and although it thrived in the insular⁵ India of that time it was quick to seek foreign expertise⁶ as the economy opened up after 1991. As well as befriending Goldman, it also struck a car-financing pact⁷ with Ford⁸. Kotak bought out the partners in both these ventures in 2005-06 as the India boom took off. By that point its investment bank had become a powerhouse capable of taking on the bulge-bracket firms (indeed, Goldman has never hit its stride in India since the venture ended). By March 2007, before the global crisis struck, investment banking made up 60% of earnings⁹.

　　Kotak Mahindra的企业成长反映出了印度国家实力的增强。1985年成立以来该企业不仅在封闭的印度中繁荣发展，更在1991年经济开放后迅速搜寻外国的专家，与高盛交好、与福特签订汽车资助协议。在印度开始高速增长以后，Kotak买下了高盛两个合伙人的全部股权。完成收购后的Kotak投资银行有实力将全球知名企业的股份收入囊中。（事实上，合资企业终结后，高盛就再也没能很好的在印度发展）。截止到2007年3月全球金融危机爆发前，该行利润的60%都来自投资业务。

　　There has been a startling change of colours since then. Kotak correctly judged that India's investment-banking scene would slump¹⁰ as too many firms chased a smallish and shrinking revenue pot. And it chose not to go global. Although some emerging-market firms, such as BTG Pactual of Brazil, harbour such ambitions, Kotak lacked muscle and in any case, says Mr Kotak, “the jury is still out” on the Anglo-Saxon style of capital-markets-led banking. Instead Kotak focused on India and on lending. In the year to March 2012, four-fifths of pre-tax profits came from lending. Profits have more than tripled since 2007.

　　此后的形式发生了惊人的变化。Kotak正确判断出大量的公司会将正在缩水的小型业务发展为收入支柱，进而印度投行业务将会下滑。他决定避免全球化经营。尽管巴西百达等新兴市场的企业怀揣这种宏图大志，但Kotak公司尚且实力不足，Kotak先生说：无论如何，在盎格鲁-撒克逊式资本市场主导下的银行中，“此事还需再议”。相反，Kotak公司将重点放在了印度境内业务和放贷业务上。2012年3月，放贷业务利润高达税前总利润的五分之四，总利润额比07年高出三倍还多。

　　The shift was not all luck, the bank says. Its roots are in small-ticket lending to middle India, not supping with too-big-to-fail types. The firm's co-managing directors, C. Jayaram and Dipak Gupta, have both spent two decades at the bank and predate the investment-banking adventure. Retail¹¹ loans are mainly collateralised, and used to finance purchases of cars and houses. Wholesale¹² loans are aimed at semi-rural bits of India and skewed towards purchases of vehicles and equipment. Kotak has shied away from the big infrastructure¹³ projects that are hurting other banks. Gross bad debts and restructured loans are a low 1.2% of the total, despite fast growth.

　　银行提到也不是每次环境变化都是有利的。公司的根基建立在向印度的中产阶级提供小额贷款上，那些大而不倒的客户可不是它的菜。企业的联席董事C. Jayaram和Dipak Gupta在运营投资银行之前都已做了二十年的银行业务。零售类贷款业务大部分是有抵押的，并且被用来买车买房。批发型贷款的目标是半城镇化的印度居民，用途也是买机车和设备。Kotak公司避免了让其他公司受害的大型基建性项目。尽管高速增长，但净坏账和重组贷款占总贷款比率处于低水平的1.2%。

　　As well as a weak economy, there are potential sources of disruption. New banking licences may be awarded to politically connected industrialists¹⁴. And Indian banking is due for a bout² of consolidation¹⁵. Both events may be a year or two away, but will still probably come under the watch of Mr Kotak, who owns 41% of the firm. At 53 he has no plans to retire, and wants his family to retain a chunky stake in the long term. That may be no bad thing. Continuity is part of the magic formula. And, unlike some well-known Wall Street firms, there is little sign of hubris¹⁶. “All of us have middle-class values,” says Mr Kotak. “We never wanted to be grandiose¹⁷.”

　　除经济疲软意外，还有其他的潜在不利因素。比如有政治背景的企业家或将更容易得到新的银行协议，而印度银行也将掀起一阵合并潮。这两大事件很可能在一、二年后发生，但也可能发生在控制公司41%股权的Kotak先生眼皮底下。现年53岁的他不仅当下没有任何理由退休，更在长期希望他的家庭能够保留相当的股份。这也许不是坏事。魔法配方中就有一个环节叫做“持续性”。并且，不同于华尔街知名企业的是，这里没有狂妄自大的苗头。Kotak先生说：“我们所有人都有中产阶级价值，而且从没想过自吹自擂。”

1 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

2 bout   

n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛

参考例句：

• I was suffering with a bout of nerves.我感到一阵紧张。
• That bout of pneumonia enfeebled her.那次肺炎的发作使她虚弱了。

3 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

4 tycoons   

大君( tycoon的名词复数 )； 将军； 企业巨头； 大亨

参考例句：

• The great tycoons were fierce competitors, single-minded in their pursuit of financial success and power. 企业巨头都是激烈的竞争者，他们一心追求钱财和权势。
• Tycoons and their conglomerates are even raising money again on international markets. 企业大亨们以及他们的企业甚至正再次从国际市场上筹集资金。

5 insular   

adj.岛屿的，心胸狭窄的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• Having lived in one place all his life,his views are insular.他一辈子住在一个地方，所以思想狭隘。

6 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

7 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

8 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

9 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

10 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

11 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

12 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

13 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

14 industrialists   

n.工业家，实业家( industrialist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This deal will offer major benefits to industrialists and investors. 这笔交易将会让实业家和投资者受益匪浅。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has set up a committee of industrialists and academics to advise it. 政府已成立了一个实业家和学者的委员会来为其提供建议。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 consolidation   

n.合并,巩固

参考例句：

• The denser population necessitates closer consolidation both for internal and external action. 住得日益稠密的居民，对内和对外都不得不更紧密地团结起来。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• The state ensures the consolidation and growth of the state economy. 国家保障国营经济的巩固和发展。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法

16 hubris   

n.傲慢，骄傲

参考例句：

• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。
• The very hubris of French claims alarmed the other powers.法国贪婪的胃口使其他大国惊恐不安。

17 grandiose   

adj.宏伟的，宏大的，堂皇的，铺张的

参考例句：

• His grandiose manner impressed those who met him for the first time.他那种夸大的举止给第一次遇见他的人留下了深刻的印象。
• As the fog vanished,a grandiose landscape unfolded before the tourists.雾气散去之后，一幅壮丽的景观展现在游客面前。