|
The banks battle back
银行反击战
A behind-the-scenes brawl over new capital and liquidity rules
关于资本和流动性规则的幕后大争论
May 27th 2010 | From The Economist print edition
1.THE world is now knee-deep in proposals to reform finance. From industry lobbies to global regulators, everyone is brimming with ideas. On May 26th the European Commission became the latest to propose a new bank levy, joining the IMF and governments in Europe and America. On the same day America’s Financial Accounting Standards Board unveiled proposals requiring banks to report the fair value of loans on their books.
现在世界正处于齐膝深的金融改革议案之中。从产业界的游说团体到全球的管制者们,他们每个人心中都溢于改革的想法。5月26日,欧盟委员会联合IMF和欧洲及美洲国家政府最新提出向银行征收一项新税收的议案。就在同一天,美国财务会计准则委员会提出了要求银行报告其账簿上的贷款公允价值的议案。
2.As the proposals pile up, so does the estimated cost to the banks. In America analysts at Barclays Capital calculate that the hit from domestic legislation alone could amount to 16% of banks’ profits in 2013. Analysts at Credit Suisse reckon European banks’ profits in 2012 could fall by 37% because of proposed regulation.
随着这些议案的堆积,估计的银行方面的成本也日益增加。在美国巴克莱投资银行的分析人士计算指出,仅来自其本土法律之打击(所造成的成本)就可占银行业2013年利润的16%。瑞士信贷的分析者认为,由于这些建议的管制政策,欧洲银行业的利润在2012年会下降37%。
3.That would be a shock almost as bad as the crisis itself, which is why in the real world policymakers will have to prioritise. The most important bit of reform is the international set of rules known as “Basel 3”, which will govern the capital and liquidity buffers banks carry. It is here that the most vicious and least public skirmish between banks and their regulators is taking place.
这将会是一场巨大的冲击,它差不多与金融危机本身的影响一样严重,这是现实中政策制定者将必须优先考虑它的原因。改革最重要的部分是被称为“巴塞尔协议III”的国际规则集,它将管理银行的资本和流动性缓冲。而这里正是银行和他们的管制者们发生最激烈且最少公开争论的地方。
4.The Basel club of bank supervisors put out proposals in December, which aim to boost capital and get banks to wean themselves off short-term funding. In the submissions they have made in response, banks have been critical. Although they claim to accept the objective of raising safety buffers, banks argue that any big changes will impede economic growth. Many also say that the Basel club’s timetable, which is to have the proposals finalised by this year and implemented by late 2012, is unrealistic.
作为银行监管者角色的巴塞尔委员会在去年十二月提出了议案,其旨在增加资本并且使银行避免依赖于短期资金(借款)。在银行作为他们回应的意见书中,他们表示不支持。尽管银行方面声称他们接受提高安全缓冲的目标,但他们争辩道,任何大的改变都将阻碍经济增长。他们中许多人也认为巴塞尔委员会的日程表,即让议案在今年定案并于2012年晚些时候实施,是不现实的。
5.Some complaints will be brushed aside. During the crisis there was a total loss of confidence in banks’ capital standards, with most investors resorting to more basic accounting information to measure solvency. It is for this reason that Basel 3 is likely, however much the banks squeal, to take a firm line on excluding low-quality instruments such as preference shares from core capital. Likewise, few can seriously object to its demand that banks hold enough liquid assets to withstand a severe, month-long liquidity shock.
一些不满之词将会随流扫尽。在金融危机期间,随着大多数投资者诉诸于更多基本的会计信息来评估银行的偿付能力,对银行资本标准的信心已全面的流失了。正是出于这个原因,不管银行方面如何高呼不满,巴塞尔协议III可能会把一些低质金融产品排除在核心资本之外设定严格的标准,例如优先股。同样的,对于银行应持有充足的流动资产以备经得住一个严重的、长达月余的流动性冲击的这个要求,几乎没有人会严重地反对。
6.The tricky bits will be setting the absolute level of capital that is needed in the system and defining a tolerable amount of short-term funding. The Basel club has not articulated a vision of how big the buffers should be. But its instincts are pragmatic—Stefan Walter, the secretary-general of the Basel Committee, says the aim is “a balanced package where the costs will be phased to avoid economic disruption and the benefits will be substantial.”
政策制定最困难的部分将会是,设定(银行)系统需要的资本之绝对水平,以及定义一个尚好的短期资金量。巴塞尔委员会尚未就多大的缓冲才是合适的这个问题发表清晰的愿景。但他们的直觉是务实的——巴塞尔委员会秘书长Stefan Walter讲道,他们的目标是“一个平衡的政策包,它将既使得费用与能够避免经济瓦解相协调,又能使利润保持充实”。
7.That hasn’t stopped the banks fighting their corner. Their main lobbying body, the Institute of International Finance, will release a report on June 10th that can be relied on to paint an apocalyptic picture of the economic cost of Basel 3. Later this year the Basel club will publish its own assessment, which should be less alarming.
但这并没有促使银行方面停止奋战到底。他们主要的游说团体,即国际金融协会,将在6月10日发布一个报告,这份报告将指望其描绘的由于巴塞尔协议III带来的经济成本所导致的世界末日似的景象来反抗。今年晚些时候,巴塞尔委员会将出版他们自己的评估,这该不会那么令人恐慌吧。
下载 (19.68 KB)
2010-5-30 13:23
8.On capital there is room for compromise. The happy secret of Western banking is that the system in aggregate now has lots of capital (see chart) relative to the net losses experienced over the crisis. The kind of erosion of capital forecast by the Federal Reserve’s stress tests last year, for example, has simply not materialised. That means the Basel club can legitimately argue that banks in aggregate do not need to raise much new capital. It can focus instead on fixing loopholes and finding ways to close outlier banks that lose far more money than the average.
在资本方面还是有和解的余地的。西方银行业务令人高兴的秘密是,在经历了金融危机之后,银行系统现在总的来讲,相对于其净损失他们还拥有大量的资本(见图)。例如像去年美联储压力测试所预测的那种资本流失的事情并没有成为现实。这意味着巴塞尔委员会能够正当的争辩道银行总的来说并不需要增加太多新的资本。这会把焦点转向弥补漏洞和想办法关闭那些比平均水平损失多很多的状况异常的银行。
9.Where Basel 3 will almost certainly have to retreat is in its proposal to force banks significantly to cut their structural reliance on short-term funding. Credit Suisse reckons the regulators’ proposed “net stable funding ratio” would require European banks to raise
|