经济学人76:资产质量审查

 　　The asset-quality review

　　资产质量审查

　　Gentlemen, start your audits¹

　　先生们，开始审计吧

　　Close scrutiny² of Europe’s banks may turn up unexpected shortfalls

　　对欧洲银行的密切关注可能会变成意外的资金短缺

　　Oct 5th 2013 |From the print edition

　　THE ink on the agreements that will hand supervision³ of the euro area’s biggest banks to the European Central Bank (ECB) is barely dry. Yet the ECB is already enmeshed in squabbles with national banking⁴ supervisors⁵ over the extent of its powers and the rigour with which it will undertake its first big task, a warts-and-all review of the balance-sheets of the banks it will take charge of in a year’s time.

　　欧元区刚刚敲定将欧元区的监管权交给欧洲最大的银行欧洲中央银行的协议。然而，欧洲央行已经卷入与国家银行监管机构的争吵之中，争吵围绕其权利范围以及其承担第一大任务之严格。其将会在一年时间里审查所有银行的资产负债表。

　　Details over how the ECB will conduct this asset-quality review (AQR) will probably be released in the second half of October, but the outlines are already beginning to emerge. The main aim of the review is to ensure that the ECB is not embarrassed by the revelation of holes in the balance-sheets of its new charges. Fresh in its mind is the example of the European Banking Authority (EBA), a young European regulator that lost much of its credibility after the collapse⁶ of banks that had passed its stress tests only months earlier.

　　虽然关于欧洲央行如何进行资产质量审查的详细细节可能会在十月下半月公布，但是大体状况已经开始初现端倪了。这次审查的主要目的是确保欧洲央行新接管的这些银行的资产负债表的缺口不会让其尴尬。欧洲银行管理局的例子还让人记忆犹新，这个年轻的欧洲监管机构由于通过其压力测试的银行纷纷崩溃而在几个月前失去了公信力。

　　To avoid that danger the ECB is emphasising that the AQR is not a stress test, which would simulate the effect of various economic scenarios⁷ on banks’ balance-sheets. Instead it is doing a preliminary examination to ensure that it understands what is on banks’ books in the first place. National regulators fret⁸ that they will be embarrassed by what it finds. This has prompted some to push back hard to limit the scope of the ECB’s inquiries⁹.

　　为了避免上述危险，欧洲央行强调资产质量审查不是一次压力测试，模拟各种经济情况对资产负债表的影响。取而代之的是，它会做一次初步检查确保其会在第一时间了解银行的状况。国家监管机构担心他们会对央行的发现感到尴尬。这已经促使一些人强硬地限制了欧洲央行查询范围。

　　Surprisingly, this resistance is not coming from countries on Europe’s periphery¹⁰ such as Spain (see article), which have much to gain from the imprimatur of ECB supervision. Rather it is coming from core countries such as France and, to a lesser¹¹ extent, Germany, where seemingly well-capitalised banks may come out of the asset review looking threadbare.

　　令人惊讶的是，这种阻力不是来自诸如西班牙的欧洲外围国家，西班牙很需要欧洲央行监管的首肯。相反，这种阻力是来自法国等核心国家，还有德国的反对，只不过程度稍轻。这些国家看似资金充裕的银行可能会出现难看的资产审查结果。

　　One issue is the “risk weighting” of assets, a process by which banks adjust the size of their capital buffer¹² to account for the riskiness¹³ of their lending. Studies by both the Basel Committee, a club of central bankers and supervisors, and the EBA have found wide and unjustifiable variations in the way banks risk-weight their assets, even when asked to do so for identical hypothetical portfolios¹⁴. The consequences of such variations can be significant. If the euro area’s biggest banks were forced to abandon their internal risk-weighting models and instead apply cruder standardised models, many would see their core-capital ratios decline by several percentage points (see chart). The ECB is likely to push for greater consistency¹⁵ in risk weighting, which could force banks in France, Germany and elsewhere to raise capital.

　　其中一个问题是资产的风险加权，通过风险加权，银行可以调整资本缓冲规模冲抵其贷款风险。央行行长和监事俱乐部巴塞尔委员会和欧洲银行管理局的研究发现银行中广泛存在各种不合理的资产风险权重方式，甚至是为了相同的假设投资组合。这些方式的后果是严重的。如果欧元区最大的银行被迫放弃他们内部的风险权重模型，许多银行会发现它们的核心资本比率下降几个百分点（见表）。欧洲央行很可能会推行更大规模统一的风险权重，会迫使法国德国以及欧洲其他地方的银行筹集资金。

　　Informed observers also expect the ECB to find evidence of “regulatory forbearance” in these markets, whereby supervisors have allowed banks to fudge the level of non-performing loans on their books, restructuring loans and easing repayment¹⁶ terms instead of taking write-downs. Adjusting for this could also open up capital holes. A process devised by Germany and France to shore up confidence in weak banks on Europe’s periphery may end up hitting a quite unexpected target.

　　消息灵通的观察家同时预计欧洲央行将找到在这些市场“监管纵容”的证据，在这些市场，监管机构允许银行在资产负债表上对不良贷款程度作假，重组贷款，延长还款期，而不是采取减记。对此作出调整可能会导致资金缺口。由法国德国设计的提振欧洲外围国家银行信心的方法可能会以击中一个意想不到的目标而告终。

1 audits   

n.审计，查账( audit的名词复数 )v.审计，查账( audit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Requires that use of all bond funds is subject to independent audits. 需要使用的所有债券基金是受独立审计。 来自互联网
• Support the locations during customer-visits, audits and quality-improvement programs. 支持客户参观，稽核和提高品质等项目。 来自互联网

2 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

3 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

4 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。

5 supervisors   

n.监督者，管理者( supervisor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think the best technical people make the best supervisors. 我认为最好的技术人员可以成为最好的管理人员。 来自辞典例句
• Even the foremen or first-level supervisors have a staffing responsibility. 甚至领班或第一线的监督人员也有任用的责任。 来自辞典例句

6 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

7 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

8 fret   

v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损

参考例句：

• Don't fret.We'll get there on time.别着急，我们能准时到那里。
• She'll fret herself to death one of these days.她总有一天会愁死的.

9 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 periphery   

n.(圆体的)外面；周围

参考例句：

• Geographically, the UK is on the periphery of Europe.从地理位置上讲，英国处于欧洲边缘。
• The periphery of the retina is very sensitive to motion.视网膜的外围对运动非常敏感。

11 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

12 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。

13 riskiness   

n.风险性

参考例句：

• As they do, the riskiness of the system steadily increases. 因此他们乐于更多地借贷。
• Small town banks have to assess the relative riskiness of threir loans. 小城市的银行必须预估他们贷款相当的冒险。

14 portfolios   

n.投资组合( portfolio的名词复数 )；（保险）业务量；（公司或机构提供的）系列产品；纸夹

参考例句：

• Price risk arises in non-trading portfolios, as well as in trading portfolios. 价格风险中出现的非贸易投资，以及在贸易投资组合。 来自互联网
• How do we fatten our portfolios and stay financially healthy? 我们怎样育肥我们的投资结构和维持财政健康呢？ 来自互联网

15 consistency   

n.一贯性，前后一致，稳定性；(液体的)浓度

参考例句：

• Your behaviour lacks consistency.你的行为缺乏一贯性。
• We appreciate the consistency and stability in China and in Chinese politics.我们赞赏中国及其政策的连续性和稳定性。

16 repayment   

n.偿还，偿还款；报酬

参考例句：

• I am entitled to a repayment for the damaged goods.我有权利索取货物损坏赔偿金。
• The tax authorities have been harrying her for repayment.税务局一直在催她补交税款。