UK banks face tough new raft of reforms

英國公佈銀行業全面改革計劃
UK banks face tough new raft of reforms
英國《金融時報》 記者 報導

Britain's banks will be forced to boost their capital and separate core operations from riskier trading and investment banking at an annual cost of up to £7bn ($11bn), under sweeping reforms announced on Monday.


根據周一公佈的全面改革計劃，英國各銀行將被迫提高資本水平，並以每年最高70億歐元(合110億美元)的代價，將核心業務和風險更高的自營交易業務與投資銀行業務分離開來。

The final recommendations of the Independent Commission on Banking, chaired by Sir John Vickers, call for a bank's ringfenced operation to have its own board of directors and equity capital equivalent to 10 per cent of risk-weighted assets.


約翰•維克斯爵士(Sir John Vickers)領銜的英國銀行業獨立委員會(Independent Commission on Banking)公佈了最終改革建議，要求銀行被“圈護”的業務部分設立獨立的董事會，且被圈護部分的股本佔風險加權資產的比例須達到10%。

But in crucial concessions, the banks will be able to chose which non-core businesses to place inside the ringfence, with a deadline of 2019 to implement some of the toughest measures in the world.


但建議也存在重大的讓步，即各銀行將可以自行選擇將哪些非核心業務放入圈護範圍，而且儘管建議中包括了一些世界上最嚴格的監管措施，但最後執行期限設定在2019年。

The recommendations come after a year-long investigation into the near-collapse of the UK banking system in 2008. They punctuate a remarkable turnround for a financial centre that once boasted of its “light touch” approach to regulation.


上述建議出籠之前，該委員會對2008年英國銀行系統接近崩潰的狀況進行了為期一年的調查。倫敦這個金融中心曾以其“點到為止式”的監管而著稱於世，但這項改革建議標誌著政府態度發生了令人矚目的大轉變。

The Vickers report also said that banks must maintain additional loss-absorbing capital, such as so-called bail-in bonds or contingent convertible bonds known as “cocos” over and above their equity, equal to a further 7 to 10 per cent of assets adjusted for risk.


維克斯的報告還表示，除了股本，銀行還必須保留吸收虧損的額外資本，例如所謂的債權人紓困債券(bail-in bonds)，或“或有可轉換債券”(CoCos)，總額相當於經風險因素調整後資產的7%至10%。

That rule puts the UK on a par with Switzerland, which also has an outsized banking sector. Both countries are seeking to avoid the problems of Iceland and Ireland, where financial industry woes devastated the broader economy.


這一規定讓英國與銀行業同樣超級龐大的瑞士看齊。兩國均試圖避免冰島和愛爾蘭的問題，以防像這兩個國家一樣，讓金融業災難摧毀了整個國民經濟。

Sir John said the reforms would be “fundamental and far-reaching” and that they would have helped prevent the high-profile failure of banks such as Northern Rock, Lehman Brothers and Royal Bank of Scotland.


維克斯表示，改革的影響將是“根本而深遠的”，將有助於預防類似北岩銀行(Northern Rock)、雷曼兄弟(Lehman Brothers)和蘇格蘭皇家銀行(RBS)等銀行引發轟動的破產事件發生。



譯者/何黎