被股市暴跌延遲的監管改革

Four months ago, when China’s stock market was flying high, regulators and exchange officials were brimming with ambition and discussing bold reforms. Then the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite index fell by 35 per cent in less than a month. Now the focus is back on risk control and stability, with deregulation firmly on hold.

四個月前，當中國股市還在飆升之際，監管機構、交易所官員滿懷雄心，討論着大膽的改革舉措。隨後，上證綜指在不到一個月的時間裏暴跌了35%。而今，政策重點又回到了風險控制與穩定，放松管制的措施被堅決擱置起來。

While listed companies and their investors are pleased that the government and state-owned financial institutions have stepped in with aggressive measures to support the market, those seeking to raise new capital now face an uncertain future.

雖然上市公司及投資者對政府和國有金融機構採取激進措施介入救市感到欣喜，但那些尋求籌集新資金的企業如今卻面臨着不確定的未來。

More than 550 companies were awaiting government approval to list on either the Shanghai or Shenzhen stock exchanges by mid-August. But amid the market turmoil, the regulator said it would slow the pace of initial public offerings (IPOs) to avoid siphoning demand from existing shares.

截至8月中旬，有超過550多家公司在上交所或深交所上市的申請正在等待審批。但在股市動盪期間，監管機構表示將放慢首次公開發行(IPO)申請的審批速度，以避免稀釋現有股票的需求。

That is an abrupt reversal from earlier in the year, when regulators were not only approving IPOs at a swift clip, but also discussing how to eliminate the approval requirement altogether. The plan was to replace approval with a streamlined registration system, devolving authority from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to the stock exchanges.

這是相對今年早些時候情況的一場突然逆轉，那時，監管機構不但審批IPO的速度很快，而且還在討論如何一股腦取消所有審批規定。他們的計劃是要用簡化的登記制度取代批准制度，將權力從中國證監會(CSRC)下放至證交所。

That would move China’s stock markets toward the norms of developed markets, where regulators and stock exchanges focus on ensuring accurate and complete information disclosure but let investors decide which companies can sell shares and at what price.

此番舉措將推動中國股市向發達市場的慣例靠攏，在發達市場，監管機構與證交所將主要精力放在確保準確、完整的信息披露上，而哪些公司可以出售股票、以什麼價格出售則由投資者自己決定。

“Before the market turmoil, people were talking about a phase-in of the registration system by the end of this year. Now there’s not much hope for that,” says Zhu Ning, vice dean of the Advanced Institute of Finance at Jiaotong University in Shanghai.

上海交通大學(Jiaotong University)上海高級金融學院(Advanced Institute of Finance)副院長朱寧說：“股市暴跌之前，人們都在談論今年年底前將逐步採用登記制度。現在看來，希望不大。”

For years the IPO approval system has distorted stock market valuations and encouraged corruption and rent-seeking. The limited supply of new shares means IPOs are always massively oversubscribed. That is because those lucky enough to win an allotment earn risk-free profits when shares invariably soar on their debut. First-day pops are assured because the regulator has also imposed an informal cap on price-earnings ratios at about 23 times earnings, even though market demand generally supports much higher valuations for new companies.

多年來，IPO審批制度扭曲了股市估值，鼓勵了腐敗和尋租。新股供應有限意味着IPO總會得到大量超額認購。這是因爲新股首發後無一例外飆漲，那些獲得配售的幸運兒可以賺取無風險的利潤。首日大漲是肯定的，因爲監管機構還對新股發行價對應的市盈率設定了不超過23倍的非正式“紅線”——哪怕市場需求通常可以支撐對新上市公司高得多的估值。

Yet powerful vested interests oppose the move to a registration system, including factions within the CSRC, whose authority over IPOs gives them enormous power. With the ability to determine who gets to sell shares, when, and at what price, opportunities for corruption are rife. The CSRC fired the head of its issuance bureau, Li Zhiling, in late June, saying it had handed evidence of illegal stock trading by her spouse over to police.

然而，強大的既得利益集團反對改用登記制度，其中包括證監會內部一些小集團，他們對IPO的控制權給了自身巨大的權力。由於能夠決定誰可以出售股票以及在何時、以什麼價格出售，他們腐敗的機會無處不在。6月下旬，中國證監會開除了發行監管部門負責人李志玲，稱已將李志玲丈夫涉嫌非法交易股票的證據交給了警方。

Industry insiders say that influential private equity (PE) funds, who often win hefty pre-IPO stakes in companies, planning to list are also opposed to a registration system. That is because PE funds — many of which are run by relatives of current or former leaders — often obtain their stakes at low valuations on the understanding that their government connections will help the company navigate the IPO approval process. A more open system for managing the flow of IPOs would remove this powerful bargaining chip.

業內人士稱，有影響力的私募股權(PE)基金往往能獲得準備上市的企業的大量IPO前股份，這些基金也反對實施登記制度。這是因爲私募股權基金（其中許多都是由現任或前任領導人的親屬經營）通常能夠以低估值獲得在某公司的股份，只要他們在政府裏的人脈關係可以幫助該公司疏通IPO審批流程。更加開放的IPO管理制度將使這塊強大的議價籌碼不復存在。

A major casualty of the delay in moving to a registration system is a new equity board planned for the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The Strategic Emerging Industries Board was intended to host high-profile tech companies. Exchange executives have expressed the hope that the new board could lure Chinese companies listed in the US and elsewhere to repatriate, a process that had already begun during the Chinese share rally.

登記制度的推遲對上交所計劃中的新板造成的影響最大。戰略新興產業板(Strategic Emerging Industries Board)旨在吸引備受矚目的科技公司。上交所高管表示，希望新板能吸引在美國及其他國家上市的中國企業迴歸國內上市——一個早已在中國股市大漲期間開始的進程。

Alibaba’s choice of the New York Stock Exchange for its record-breaking IPO last year prompted questions among financial elites who asked why China’s most successful non-state-owned company was unwilling to tap capital markets at home.

阿里巴巴(Alibaba)去年選擇紐交所(New York Stock Exchange)進行自己創紀錄的IPO讓中國的金融精英產生疑問：爲什麼中國最成功的非國有企業不願利用國內資本市場？

The board was intended to operate on a registration system from the beginning, with the goal of allowing a company to complete the IPO process in about six months.

戰略新興產業板本打算從一開始就按登記制度運行，目標是讓擬上市企業在約6個月內完成IPO進程。

The board also represents the Shanghai exchange’s attempt to steal market share back from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, whose ChiNext board has become a popular destination for tech start-ups and small companies from other next-generation industries.

戰略新興產業板也代表着出上交所希望從深交所拿回部分市場份額的嘗試，後者的創業板(ChiNext)已成爲受到下一代行業中科技創業型企業及小企業熱捧的上市場所。

“We will establish an equity market with broad coverage, multiple channels, low costs, strict regulation and multiple layers,” Xiao Gang, the CSRC chairman, said in June.

今年6月，證監會主席肖鋼稱：“要建立廣覆蓋、多渠道、低成本、高效率、嚴監管的多層次股權市場。”

“The Shanghai Stock Exchange’s establishment of the strategic emerging industries board can provide a complementary development to ChiNext.”

“在上海證券交易所設立戰略新興板，與創業板錯位發展。”

But given all that has happened, such remarks seem like a distant memory.

但考慮到近來發生的一切，此番言論聽起來像是遙遠的回憶。

Analysts say that only when stability and confidence return to the markets will regulators’ appetite for innovation and liberalisation gradually return.

分析師表示，只有在穩定和信心迴歸股市的時候，監管機構對創新和開放的興趣纔會逐漸恢復。