经济学人50:衍生品清算 迫在眉睫的危机

 　　Finance and Economics；Centrally cleared derivatives¹；Clear and present danger；

　　财经；集中清算衍生品交易；迫在眉睫的危机；

　　Clearing-houses may add danger as well as efficiency；

　　清算所的危险和效率料并行上升；

　　Stock exchanges have not been lucky in love recently. Deutsche Borse's proposed merger² with NYSE Euronext was blocked by regulators in February. Romances between the exchanges of Singapore and Australia, and between the Toronto bourse and the London Stock Exchange (LSE), have also fizzled.

　　证券交易所近期的“联姻”不那么顺利。德国证券交易所（ Deutsche Borse）与纽约泛欧交易所集团（NYSE Euronext）的合并提议2月份被监管当局否决。而新加坡和澳大利亚证券交易所的联姻以及多伦多证券交易所和伦敦证券交易所（ LSE）的联姻也都已搁浅。

　　Tired of such dalliances, the LSE has taken up with the plumber³. On April 3rd its shareholders⁴ backed its plan to take control of LCH.Clearnet, a big clearing-house. Clearing-houses are the back-room wizards of the exchange-traded securities and derivatives markets. They ensure that once a deal has been agreed upon it will be honoured, even if one of the parties goes bust⁵. The 2008 financial crisis proved their worth. Interbank markets seized up because no bank knew how big a risk the other was carrying, but the clearing-houses had a much better idea of their exposures and could rapidly demand more cash or other collateral⁶ from counterparties.

　　LSE厌倦了此类周旋， 开始对“管道工”产生兴趣。4月3日该集团股东支持掌控LCH.Clearnet的计划，LCH.Clearnet是一家大型清算所（欧洲最大的衍生品独立清算所）。清算所是股票交易和衍生品市场的幕后向导。他们确保一旦交易达成，就会生效（即买卖双方分别与交易所发生关系），即使交易一方破产。2008年发生的金融危机证明了清算所的价值。银行间市场失灵，因银行不知彼此担负多大的风险，但清算所对其敞口却知之甚详，进而可快速的要求交易方提供更多现金或其他抵押品。

　　Regulators now want clearing-houses to act as central counterparties (CCPs) for as many derivatives transactions as possible. Their biggest target is the mountain of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives products, whose notional amounts outstanding, reckoned at around 700 trillion dollar in June 2011, easily dwarf⁷ the 83 trillion dollar of derivatives on exchanges.

　　目前监管当局想让清算所扮演中央对手方（CCPs）的角色，尽可能多的为衍生品交易进行清算。其最大的目标是大量的衍生品柜台交易（OTC），2011年7月OTC名义总值约达700万亿美元，而交易所的衍生品交易名义总值为83万亿美元，明显低很多。

　　Some OTC derivatives are already centrally cleared: LCH.Clearnet's Swap⁸ Clear service has 290 trillion dollar of interest-swaps on its books. Many are not. A G20 resolution in 2009 set a framework for moving standardised OTC products into clearing-houses. This is being applied⁹ through bits of legislation worldwide, most importantly via the Dodd-Frank Act in America and the European Market Infrastructure¹⁰ Regulation (EMIR) in Europe, which was voted through the European Parliament on March 29th. Any remaining bilateral¹¹ deals would be much more expensive for banks to carry on their books.

　　部分衍生品柜台交易已被集中清算： LCH.Clearnet的掉期清算业务中利率掉期账面值达290万亿美元。但多数OTC衍生品交易并未进行清算。2009年颁布的一项20国集团决议为标准化OTC产品进入清算所制定了一个框架。这一框架可通过世界范围内的零星立法来实施，最重要的立法有美国的多德·弗兰克法案（Dodd-Frank Act）和欧洲的欧洲市场基础设施监管条例（EMIR），该条例于3月29日获欧洲议会投票通过。剩下的双边交易对银行来说都要昂贵得多。

　　All of which means that the volume of business flowing to clearing-houses, and the fees they can charge, will rise. For a stock exchange like the LSE, whose trading volume in cash equities¹² is being eroded¹³ by much cheaper multilateral platforms, it makes sense to risk overpaying—the deal values LCH.Clearnet at around 800m (1.1 billion dollar)—to secure a business that is almost bound to grow by regulatory fiat¹⁴.

　　所有这些都意味着流向清算所的业务量，及其收取的费用会增加。对于像LSE这样的证券交易所来说，其股票现货交易量将受到更便宜的多边交易平台打压，（因此）冒险多掏钱购入一项在监管法令下势必会增长的业务是有意义的。LSE购入LCH.Clearnet 股权的交易额约达8亿欧元（11亿美元）。

　　Others are also crowding round. NYSE Euronext's merger with Deutsche Borse would have plugged it into Eurex Clearing, the German exchange's CCP. Now it will work on making NYSE Liffe Clearing, which clears the trades on London's Liffe futures¹⁵ exchange, a full CCP. On March 28th it announced plans for its continental¹⁶ derivatives-clearing activity to migrate there by early 2014, subject to regulatory approval (its continental cash equities will continue to be cleared by LCH.Clearnet).

　　其他交易所亦前仆后继。纽约泛欧交易所集团与德国证券交易所的合并本可与欧洲期交所清算公司（ Eurex Clearing）拉上关系，欧洲期交所清算公司是德国证券交易所的CCP。目前纽约泛欧交易所集团将致力于打造泛欧交易所清算所（NYSE Liffe Clearing），该清算所清算伦敦国际期货金融交易所（Liffe）的期货交易，完全是一个CCP。3月28日LSE宣布计划在2014年初将其衍生品清算业务扩张至欧洲大陆，而这取决于监管当局的许可（其欧洲大陆股票现货交易将继续在LCH.Clearnet进行清算）。

　　This will create new concentrations of risk. If the CCPs consolidate¹⁷ into three or four big players in Europe, and a handful more worldwide, that will be a lot of risk tied up in a few institutions. Since they are involved in cross-border business and meant to be “interoperable”—ie, allowing access to a wide number of counterparties—the responsibility for the bail-out of a CCP may not be a clear-cut geographical¹⁸ one. All this should be sorted out before the game goes much further.

　　新风险集中将应运而生。如果欧洲的CCPs整合成三或四个大机构，全球则整合成稍多几个，那么大量风险就将会被集中在几个机构上面。因为这些机构的业务涉及跨境，意味着会“相互影响”，即业务向更广泛的交易方开放，那么要负责救助一个CCP，或许就不是地理上明确划分的那一个了。在进一步整合之前，所有这些问题都应解决。

　　Another looming¹⁹ problem is the quality of collateral that CCPs take. Apart from cash, the most common type of collateral posted with clearing-houses is government bonds. These no longer have the “risk-free” status they used to enjoy. As more deals migrate to CCPs, the pressure to find suitable collateral could intensify²⁰ (by how much depends on the extent to which clearing enables offsetting²¹ transactions to reduce the amount of collateral needed). There is a risk that clearing-houses could expose themselves to assets which are not as stable as they should be.

　　另一个若隐若现的问题是CCP接受的抵押品质量问题。除现金外，清算所接受的最普遍抵押品是政府债券。而这些债券已不再是过去享有的“无风险”地位。随着更多交易转向CCP，其找寻合适抵押品的压力料加剧（这多少取决于哪一种清算令对冲交易削减所需抵押品数量的程度）。这就存在一种风险：清算所面临的资产敞口不如应该那样稳定。

　　Clearers swear blind that they would never relax their standards. “We're not plumbers²², we're risk-management firms,” says Ian Axe²³, the boss of LCH.Clearnet. This is true, but it and many other CCPs are run for profit, and are bound to steer²⁴ a course between risk and reward. The European Securities and Markets Authority is supposed to set new capital rules and collateral standards for CCPs by June 30th. What regulators give with one hand, they may take away with the other.

　　清算所誓言决不会放宽标准。LCH.Clearnet老板Ian Axe表示：“我们不是管道工，我们是风险管理公司”。虽然这是事实，但LCH.Clearnet和其他CCP都是逐利的公司，定会在风险和收益之间前行。欧洲证券与市场管理局（European Securities and Markets Authority, 简称ESMA）应在7月30日前为CCP制定新的资本规则和抵押标准。上有政策，也许下就有对策。

1 derivatives   

n.衍生性金融商品；派生物，引出物( derivative的名词复数 )；导数

参考例句：

• Many English words are derivatives of Latin words. 许多英语词来自拉丁语。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These compounds are nitrosohydroxylamine derivatives. 这类合成物是亚硝基羟胺衍生物。 来自辞典例句

2 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

3 plumber   

n.(装修水管的)管子工

参考例句：

• Have you asked the plumber to come and look at the leaking pipe?你叫管道工来检查漏水的管子了吗？
• The plumber screwed up the tap by means of a spanner.管子工用板手把龙头旋紧。

4 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

5 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

6 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

7 dwarf   

n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小

参考例句：

• The dwarf's long arms were not proportional to his height.那侏儒的长臂与他的身高不成比例。
• The dwarf shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. 矮子耸耸肩膀，摇摇头。

8 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

9 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

10 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。

11 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

12 equities   

普通股，股票

参考例句：

• These are invested mainly in the OECD bonds and equities. 这些资产主要投资于经济合作及发展组织的债券与股票市场。
• They are also advantage of the global rebound in equities. 它们还在利用全球股市反弹的机会。

13 eroded   

adj. 被侵蚀的，有蚀痕的 动词erode的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The cliff face has been steadily eroded by the sea. 峭壁表面逐渐被海水侵蚀。
• The stream eroded a channel in the solid rock. 小溪在硬石中侵蚀成一条水道。

14 fiat   

n.命令，法令，批准；vt.批准，颁布

参考例句：

• The opening of a market stall is governed by municipal fiat.开设市场摊位受市政法令管制。
• He has tried to impose solutions to the country's problems by fiat.他试图下令强行解决该国的问题。

15 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

16 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

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。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

17 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

18 geographical   

adj.地理的；地区(性)的

参考例句：

• The current survey will have a wider geographical spread.当前的调查将在更广泛的地域范围內进行。
• These birds have a wide geographical distribution.这些鸟的地理分布很广。

19 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

20 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

21 offsetting   

n.偏置法v.抵消( offset的现在分词 )；补偿；（为了比较的目的而）把…并列（或并置）；为（管道等）装支管

参考例句：

• Dealers, having concluded a forward contract, should always hedge with an offsetting contract. 外汇经营商在签订了一项远期合同之后总是应进行套头交易签订一项相抵合同。 来自辞典例句
• Where does Germany think offsetting shifts into greater external deficits might occur? 在德国看来，这么大的外部赤字应该转移到哪里？ 来自互联网

22 plumbers   

n.管子工，水暖工( plumber的名词复数 )；[美][口]（防止泄密的）堵漏人员

参考例句：

• Plumbers charge by the hour for their work. 水管工人的工作是以小时收费的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Plumbers, carpenters, and other workmen finished the new house quickly. 管道工、木工及其他工匠很快完成了这幢新房子。 来自辞典例句

23 axe   

n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减

参考例句：

• Be careful with that sharp axe.那把斧子很锋利，你要当心。
• The edge of this axe has turned.这把斧子卷了刃了。

24 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。