中國證監會稽查總隊副總隊長被抓
A third regulatory official involved in China’s initial public offerings has been arrested, throwing the highly politicised system for IPOs under further scrutiny.
參與中國首次公開發行(IPO)的監管官員已有第三人被捕，使高度政治化的IPO制度進一步受到各方關注。
The government’s tight grip over IPOs has long created incentives for corruption, as the fate of stock sales worth billions of dollars rests with low-paid civil servants. More than 600 companies are waiting for permission to debut on the Shanghai or Shenzhen stock exchanges, and wait times of more than a year are common.
政府對IPO的嚴格管控一直構成腐敗誘因，因爲鉅額股票發售交易的命運由薪資不高的公務員掌握。目前有600餘家企業等候在上海或深圳證交所上市的批准，一年以上的等待時間相當常見。
At least three officials involved in IPO approvals have been detained this year. Financial website CaiXin reported late on Wednesday that Xi Longsheng, chief inspection officer at the China Securities Regulatory Commission, had been escorted from his office by investigators in recent days. He had previously served as section chief in the agency’s issuance department.
今年已有至少三名參與IPO審批的官員被拘留。據財經新聞網站財新網週三晚報道，中國證監會(CSRC)稽查總隊副總隊長習龍生近日被從辦公室帶走。他曾擔任證監會發行部發審處處長。（注：上圖爲中國證監會位於北京的辦公大樓）
“There are so many good reasons why companies and shareholders would bribe to make sure a listing went through. That seems to have been accepted practice with minimal clampdown,” said Fraser Howie, co-author of two books on China’s financial system.
“爲了確保一筆上市交易暢通無阻，企業和股東有很多充分理由行賄。這似乎已成了被接受的做法，幾乎沒什麼打擊行動，”曾以中國金融體系爲主題與人合著兩本書的侯偉(Fraser Howie)表示。
“That will continue as long as you have this approval process. This is a clear example where the process is ultimately leading to the malfeasance.”
“只要你有這個審批過程，這種行爲就會繼續下去。這是一個說明流程最終導致不法行爲的清晰例子。”
While at the issuance department, Mr Xi reported to Yao Gang, the department’s director, who was also an agency vice-chairman. Mr Yao was arrested last Friday, becoming the most senior financial regulatory official to be targeted in the anti-corruption probe. Another official from the issuance department, section chief Li Zhiling, was arrested in June.
在發行部工作時，習龍生向該部主任姚剛彙報。後來升任證監會副主席的姚剛，已在上週五被捕，成爲在反腐敗調查中落馬的最高級別的金融監管官員。證監會另一名官員、發行監管部處長李志玲在6月被捕。
The securities regulator this month ended a freeze on IPO approvals implemented during the Chinese stock market’s dramatic tumble in July. The agency also said it would make changes to the approval process to give investors a greater say in which companies can sell shares, when and at what price.
中國證券監管機構本月結束了7月中國股市戲劇性暴跌期間採取的IPO審批凍結措施。該機構還表示，將改革審批過程，在哪些企業可以發售股票、何時發行以及發行價格等問題上給予投資者更大發言權。
Chinese premier Li Keqiang said last year that China would move towards a registration system for IPOs while phasing out the approval requirement. The CSRC said a year ago that draft rules for the new system were already complete, but the new system has not been implemented.
中國總理李克強去年曾表示，中國將逐漸過渡到一個IPO登記制度，同時淘汰審批規定。中國證監會一年前就表示新制度的規則已經草擬完畢，但迄今尚未落實新制度。
In addition to relaxing the CSRC’s grip on the flow of new IPOs, the new system is also expected to relax restrictions on pricing.
除了放鬆中國證監會對IPO的嚴格管控外，預計新制度還將放寬對定價的限制。
Currently, the agency imposes an unofficial cap on new share prices at 22 times historic earnings, sharply below current trading levels. That guarantees first-day pops for IPO shares, delivering risk-free profits to investors able to win allocations.
目前，該機構規定了新股定價22倍於歷史盈利的非正式上限，遠低於目前上市股票的市盈率。這確保了新股價格在上市首日飆漲，向那些有本事拿到額度的投資者輸送無風險利潤。
New shares sold in the first half of 2015 rose by an average of 2.5 times in the first 20 trading days after IPO, according to Credit Suisse.
瑞信(Credit Suisse)數據顯示，2015年上半年發售的新股在IPO後頭20個交易日平均上漲2.5倍。
Liu Xiaodan, president of Huatai United Securities, said in a speech that “distorting” prices in order to deliver profits to IPO investors was “like giving opium to a crying baby. There’s a lot of harm and hardly any benefit.”
華泰聯合證券(Huatai United Securities)總裁劉曉丹在一次演講中表示，以“扭曲價格”的方式讓利給IPO投資者，好比“給哭鬧的小孩吃鴉片，有百害而無一利”。
The CSRC did not respond to an email seeking comment. Mr Xi could not be reached for comment.
中國證監會沒有回覆記者請其置評的電子郵件。記者聯繫不上習龍生請其置評。
