中國擬用債轉股減少不良貸款

China’s chief banking regulator opened the way for the country’s lenders to use debt-for-equity swaps to rid themselves of some of the $200bn of bad bank loans on their balance sheets.

中國銀行業監管機構負責人爲國內銀行利用“債轉股”移除資產負債表上2000億美元不良貸款的一部分掃清了道路。

Shang Fulin, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, raised the idea at the closing session of the annual meeting of parliament in Beijing, while adding it was a complex issue.

在北京舉行的全國人大年度會議的閉幕會議上，中國銀監會(CBRC)主席尚福林提到了這一想法，並補充稱，這是一個複雜的問題。

“We are studying the plan and it’s not as simple as some reports said,” he told reporters. China’s premier Li Keqiang, who was also speaking at the parliamentary session, singled out debt-for-equity swaps as a way to “progressively reduce corporate leverage”.

他對記者們表示：“我們正在研究債轉股的事情，但不像有些媒體報道得那麼簡單。”在人大會議閉幕後的記者會上，中國總理李克強也表示，可以通過債轉股的方式“逐步降低企業的槓桿率”。

A debt-for-equity exchange would allow China’s commercial banks to swap the debt they hold in underperforming companies for stock holdings. Chinese commercial banks are prevented from investing in non-banking companies, although their subsidiaries can.

實施債轉股意味着中國各商業銀行可以將他們所持的表現不佳公司的債權轉換成股權。這些銀行不能投資於非銀行企業，儘管他們的子公司可以這樣做。

There are also provisions in law for banks to hold shares for up to two years in case of needing to seize collateral on failed loans. The plan has been put forward as a way of tackling the trillions of renminbi of debt that have built up in the Chinese economy as a result of decades of debt-fuelled stimulus and easy credit. This is the first time the idea has been proposed at the highest level since the bank bailouts of the early 2000s.

還有法律條款規定，銀行持股應長達兩年，以備需要對不良貸款的抵押品進行扣押。長期以來，債務助燃的刺激及寬鬆信貸使中國經濟積累了數萬億人民幣債務，債轉股計劃的提出正是爲了處理這些債務。這是自本世紀頭幾年對銀行進行紓困以來，中國最高領導層首次提出這樣的想法。

Chinese banks’ bad debts stand at Rmb1.27tn ($194bn) according to official figures, although some analysts believe the real number is much higher.

官方數據顯示，中國銀行業不良貸款已達1.27萬億元人民幣（合1940億美元），儘管一些分析師認爲，實際數字要高得多。

The idea of using debt-for-equity swaps was welcomed last week by Lai Xiaomin, chairman of Huarong Asset Management Company, the biggest of China’s asset management companies (AMCs), or bad banks.

上週，中國最大資產管理公司（AMC，即所謂“壞銀行”）——華融資產管理公司(Huarong Asset Management)董事長賴小民對利用債轉股的想法表示了歡迎。

Mr Lai called for Rmb1tn-Rmb3tn of AMC debt to be switched into equity, adding that AMCs should also be allowed to securitise and resell non-performing loans. Yet some analysts believe that such debt-for-equity swaps would lead to banks merely swapping bad loans for bad equity.

賴小民呼籲將資產管理公司持有的1萬億至3萬億元人民幣的債權轉換成股權，並表示，資產管理公司也應被允許將不良貸款證券化並轉售。然而，一些分析師認爲，這樣進行債轉股只會讓銀行將不良貸款轉換成不良股權。

“It’s clearly a bad deal for the banks. It would move the stress from zombie companies to zombie banks,” said Chen Long, analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics, a research company.

研究公司龍洲經訊(Gavekal Dragonomics)分析師陳龍表示：“對銀行而言，這顯然是個餿主意。這樣做將把壓力從殭屍企業轉移至殭屍銀行。”

Larry Hu, analyst at Macquarie Securities, said it also risked “exacerbating moral hazard” by causing companies to over-borrow in the knowledge that banks would come to the rescue. Because AMCs have insufficient relationships with local governments and companies, they often struggle to collect repayment for loans, he explained.

麥格理證券(Macquarie Securities)分析師胡偉俊(Larry Hu)表示，企業還有可能會因爲知道銀行會施以援手而過度舉債，從而“加劇道德風險”。他解釋說，由於資產管理公司與地方政府及企業沒有過深的交情，前者往往很難拿到還款。

Last week Huarong Energy Company, China’s largest shipbuilder and formerly known as Rongsheng, proposed settling Rmb14.1bn of bank debts with newly issued shares — a transaction that, according to local news reports, would have made Bank of China its largest shareholder with a 14 per cent stake.

上週，原名熔盛重工(Rongsheng)的中國最大造船企業——華榮能源公司(Huarong Energy Company)提議用新發行的股票來抵消141億元人民幣的銀行債務。當地新聞報道稱，這筆交易將使中國銀行(BoC)持有華榮能源14%的股份，成爲該公司最大股東。

Debt-for-equity swaps were used in China from 1999, when the government started transferring the bad debts of state-owned enterprises to the newly created AMCs.

債轉股自1999年開始在中國得到使用，當時中國政府開始將國有企業的不良貸款轉移至新創立的資產管理公司。