中國銀監會主席警示城商行風險

China’s banking commissioner has warned the country’s city banks over the hidden credit risks related to the mid-tier lenders’ aggressive push into investment products.

中國銀行業監督管理委員會(CBRC)主席警告國內城市商業銀行，這些中型銀行大舉進軍投資產品帶來隱藏的信貸風險。

City commercial banks — the fastest growing segment of China’s banking industry — have been flagged by analysts as a potential hotspot for stress in the financial system.

城市商業銀行是中國銀行業增長最快的部分；分析師們已指出，這些銀行是金融體系的潛在壓力熱點。

For some of the lenders, the rate at which they have invested in opaque financial products has outpaced growth in traditional lending.

某些銀行投資於不透明金融產品的速度超過了傳統的放貸增長。

Other municipal banks have suffered fraud cases that have left holes in their balance sheets.

其他一些城市商業銀行遭遇欺詐案件，使他們的資產負債表受到損失。

The banks must reverse the trend in which investments have surpassed lending, Shang Fulin, the head of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, warned a meeting of city lenders in southern China, noting that complex, highly leveraged products had led to the global financial crisis.

中國銀監會主席尚福林在南方出席城市商業銀行年會時警告稱，各銀行必須扭轉投資超過放貸的趨勢，他指出，當年正是複雜的高槓杆產品導致了全球金融危機。

The rapid development of these businesses actually signals a hidden credit risk that could influence financial stability, Mr Shang said, according to a transcript of the speech.

這些業務的快速發展，實際上意味着隱藏的信貸風險，可能會影響金融安全，尚福林表示（根據講話稿）。

China’s banking system is beset with bad debt.

中國的銀行體系受到壞賬困擾。

While the official non-performing loan ratio remains below 2 per cent, many analysts have suggested that the true figure is nearly 10 times that rate.

儘管官方的不良貸款率保持在2%以下，但許多分析師提出，實際數字是這一水平的近10倍。

At the same time, profit growth has stalled or fallen at many lenders as they step up write-offs for bad debt.

與此同時，隨着許多銀行加大註銷壞賬力度，他們的利潤增長陷入停滯，甚至下降。

The distress has been magnified at many city banks.

困境在許多城市商業銀行被放大。

Growth in pre-tax profit for 2015 fell more than 90 per cent year-on-year at Bank of Dalian, a city commercial bank based in China’s north-east, according to a report from UBS.

瑞銀(UBS)一份報告稱，中國東北城市大連的城市商業銀行——大連銀行(Bank of Dalian) 2015年稅前利潤增長同比下滑90%以上。

A handful of other similar banks saw profit growth decline at least 30 per cent compared with the previous year.

另外好幾家類似銀行的利潤增速也至少同比下降30%。

Over the same period, the same banks have ramped up risky investments in an attempt to underpin growth.

與此同時，這些銀行加大了高風險投資，以求支撐增長。

Bank of Ningbo, based in a city on China’s eastern coast, had invested about 30 per cent of its total assets in other banks’ wealth management products (WMPs) by the end of 2015, according to data from BMI Research.

BMI Research的數據顯示，位於華東沿海的寧波銀行(Bank of Ningbo)截至2015年底將大約30%的總資產投資於其他銀行的理財產品(WMP)。

At a time when there is an increasing lack of profitable opportunities for Chinese banks, they have been partially relying on WMPs (both investing in them and earning commission fees) in an attempt to support earnings, according to the BMI report.

隨着中國各銀行越來越缺乏盈利機會，他們已在一定程度上依賴理財產品（包括投資於此類產品和賺取佣金兩方面）以求支撐盈利，BMI的報告稱。

Investment receivables or debt receivables, which are structured to appear as holdings of investment products issued by third parties but are often based on loans that originate at the bank that claims them as receivables, have jumped in recent years.

應收款項類投資，即債務應收款項（在結構上貌似由第三方發行的投資產品，但往往是基於聲稱它們是應收款項的銀行所發的貸款）近年來猛增。

According to an analysis of 103 Chinese banks by Wigram Capital Advisors, those investments have increased 63 per cent to Rmb14tn ($2.16tn) last year, equivalent to 16.5 per cent of total formal lending.

Wigram Capital Advisors對中國103家銀行進行的分析顯示，去年此類投資增長63%，至14萬億元人民幣（合2.16萬億美元），相當於正規貸款總額的16.5%。

Total assets at city commercial banks grew 24 per cent year-on-year in July, according to the banking regulator — much faster than joint stock banks or national state banks.

中國銀監會數據顯示，城市商業銀行的總資產在7月同比增長24%，遠遠快於股份制銀行或全國性的國有銀行。