经济学人70:中国的资产管理公司

 　　Asset-management companies in China

　　中国的资产管理公司

　　Lipstick¹ on a pig

　　看上去很美

　　China is still dealing² with the mess left by previous bank bail-outs

　　中国仍在收拾银行金援留下的烂摊子

　　Aug 24th 2013 | SHANGHAI |From the print edition

　　NEWS surfaced this week that Cinda, an asset-management company (AMC) created during China’s last round of banking³ bail-outs, is talking to bankers about a stockmarket flotation. That raises an intriguing⁴ question: how would the Chinese government handle its next banking crisis? If experience is a guide, it will be through a combination of enormous injections of public money, the creation of complicated structures and the obfuscation⁵ of data.

　　本周新闻，创建于中国上轮银行金援期间的资产管理公司信达正在对话银行家，讨论发行股票。这引起了一个有趣的问题：中国政府如何处理下一次银行危机呢？如果以经验为指导，中国政府会通过注入大量的公共资金，创造复杂体系，模糊处理银行数据等一系列措施。

　　In the 1990s the government shut down many inefficient⁶ state-owned enterprises (SOEs). That forced banks to acknowledge loans to those entities⁷ as duds. Non-performing loan (NPL) ratios soared, so officials engineered an elaborate bail-out. Central Huijin, an SOE capitalised by the central bank and finance ministry⁸, put money into the banks. On one estimate, these equity⁹ infusions¹⁰ topped $150 billion.

　　上世纪90年代，中国政府关闭许多低效率的国企。这使得银行被迫接受贷给关闭国企的贷款作废。不良贷款率陡升，于是官方启动了复杂的金援。由央行和财政部注资成立的中央汇金向银行注入资金。据估计，这些企业注资高达1500亿美元。

　　NPLs were hived off into four new AMCs: Huarong, China Orient, China Great Wall and Cinda. From 1999 to 2004 loans worth over 2 trillion yuan ($242 billion) were transferred. Though mostly bad, the loans were usually sold at full face value. They were paid for with ten-year bonds, backed by the finance ministry, that the AMCs issued to the big state-owned banks. But since most NPLs failed to recover in that time, these bonds were extended another decade. In short, the bail-out is still going on.

　　不良贷款被分离成了四个新的资产管理公司，分别是华融，中国东方，中国长城和信达。从1999年到2004年，超过两万亿元人民币（2420亿美元）的贷款被转让。尽管大部分是不良贷款，然而这些贷款通常是以全额票面价值卖掉。它们在财政部的支持下以十年期债券的形式卖掉，这些资产管理公司将其发行给大型国有银行。但是因为当时大多数的不良贷款无法偿还，这些债券又延期十年。总之，金援还在继续。

　　What the AMCs have done with their assets is unclear, as they have not released proper accounts. Some NPLs have been sold but reportedly at only 20% of face value. To deal with the resulting cash crunch¹¹, Cinda sold bonds to the finance ministry. Anne Stevenson-Yang of J Capital, a research firm, observes that these bonds have since been wiped clean from its balance-sheet without any explanation for where they went: “The AMCs seem to be virtual holding-tanks where the debt doesn’t stay and doesn’t depart either.” Some think they may be insolvent¹².

　　这些资产管理公司用他们的资产做了什么不得而知，因为他们没有公布资产账户。一些不良贷款被出售，但是据报只有面值的20%。为了解决资金短缺，信达将债券卖给了财政部。调查公司J Capital的Anne Stevenson-Yang评论说，这些债券已经在没有对去向做出任何解释的情况下从资产负债表中抹去了。这些资产管理公司实质上似乎是掩盖债务的幌子，债务既不在这些公司也没有分发。一些人认为这些公司资不抵债了。

　　That hasn’t stopped the AMCs expanding into other areas. They have gobbled up small banks and expanded into fund management, broking, commodities trading and insurance. Cynics speculate that all this has been done to give an illusion of rounded prosperity, perhaps as a prelude¹³ to a wave of public offerings.

　　这没有让这些资产管理公司停下扩张的脚步。他们吞并了小型银行，，将业务扩展到基金管理，经纪业，商品交易和保险业。怀疑者推测所有这些都是都是全面繁荣的假想，或许是一波公开发行股票行动的前奏。

　　In preparation for Cinda’s flotation on the Hong Kong exchange, the government poured 15 billion yuan into the firm in 2010 as it became a joint-stock company. Another 10 billion yuan was invested in it last year by strategic investors¹⁴ (including Standard Chartered, UBS and Citic Capital, a private-equity firm). Huarong is also rumoured¹⁵ to be seeking strategic investors, ahead of a possible listing next year.

　　为了准备信达在香港股市上市，政府在2010年向该公司注资150亿元人民币成立合资公司。去年包括渣打，瑞银集团和私募股权公司中国中信在内的战略投资者去年向信达投资了100亿元人民币。也有谣言称华融也正在寻找战略投资者，争取明年上市。

　　Why now? With loans soaring and bad debts likely to follow suit (see chart), Chinese officials realise that the next banking crisis may be near. They may well be hoping to lure¹⁶ in fresh investors, to draw a line under previous bail-outs and raise capital for new ones. Huarong and Cinda now claim to make profits, but given their murky¹⁷ accounts, that is hard to verify. A headline in the South China Morning Post sounded this warning: “China’s insolvent toxic-waste dump Cinda for sale”.

　　为什么是现在呢？随着贷款的增加，坏账可能随之而来（见表），中国政府意识到下一次银行危机可能不远了。他们可能希望吸引新的投资者，与上次的金援划清界限，为新的金援募集资金。华融和信达现在宣称在盈利，但是鉴于他们含糊的账户，这一说法难以证实。南华早报的头条发出警告：无力偿还债务的坏账回收站信达待售。

1 lipstick   

n.口红，唇膏

参考例句：

• Taking out her lipstick,she began to paint her lips.她拿出口红，开始往嘴唇上抹。
• Lipstick and hair conditioner are cosmetics.口红和护发素都是化妆品。

2 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

3 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。

4 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 obfuscation   

n.昏迷，困惑；发暗

参考例句：

• Only pedants believe in the advantage of obfuscation. 只有书呆子才相信使人困惑会有好处。 来自辞典例句
• An automated way to get shorter names is to use obfuscation tools. 自动获取短名字的办法就是使用混淆工具。 来自互联网

6 inefficient   

adj.效率低的，无效的

参考例句：

• The inefficient operation cost the firm a lot of money.低效率的运作使该公司损失了许多钱。
• Their communication systems are inefficient in the extreme.他们的通讯系统效率非常差。

7 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

10 infusions   

n.沏或泡成的浸液（如茶等）( infusion的名词复数 )；注入，注入物

参考例句：

• Intravenous infusions are also used to administer medications. 静脉输液也可作为一种给药方法。 来自辞典例句
• INTERPRETATION: GKI infusions significantly reduced plasma glucose concentrations and blood pressure. 结论：静脉滴注GKI显著降低血压和血糖浓度。 来自互联网

11 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

12 insolvent   

adj.破产的，无偿还能力的

参考例句：

• They lost orders and were insolvent within weeks.他们失去了订货，几周后就无法偿还债务。
• The bank was declared insolvent.银行被宣布破产。

13 prelude   

n.序言，前兆，序曲

参考例句：

• The prelude to the musical composition is very long.这首乐曲的序曲很长。
• The German invasion of Poland was a prelude to World War II.德国入侵波兰是第二次世界大战的序幕。

14 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

15 rumoured   

adj.谣传的；传说的；风

参考例句：

• It has been so rumoured here. 此间已有传闻。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• It began to be rumoured that the jury would be out a long while. 有人传说陪审团要退场很久。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

16 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

17 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。