雷曼前掌門人 金融危機始於美國政府

Dick Fuld, the chief executive who presided over the implosion of Lehman Brothers, used his first voluntary public appearance since its collapse in 2008 to blame the US government for fuelling the financial crisis and ordering the closure of his investment bank.

擔任首席執行官期間目睹雷曼兄弟(Lehman Brothers)內爆的迪克•富爾德(Dick Fuld)自2008年該行破產以來首次自願公開露面，他利用這個機會指責美國政府加劇金融危機和下令關閉他執掌的投行。

“Wow, I haven’t done this for a while,” said Mr Fuld. “This is my first public event since ’08. I don’t include my wonderful time with Congress,” he added referring to his post-crisis grillings on Capitol Hill.

“哇，我有段時間沒有這麼做了，”富爾德表示，“這是自2008年以來我第一次參與公開活動。我就不包括我在美國國會度過的美妙時光了。”他指的是金融危機之後他在美國國會接受質詢時經歷的煎熬。

Mr Fuld, who was known in his Wall St pomp as the Gorilla because of his aggressive attitude, chose a relatively low-profile venue for his public comeback — the Marcum Microcap conference where small companies were looking for investors.

由於態度咄咄逼人，富爾德曾在華爾街這個“舞臺”上被稱作“大猩猩”，他選擇了一個相對低調的場合重新露面：爲小公司尋找投資者的Marcum Microcap會議。

But even after almost seven years, there is still ill-will to the Lehman boss, particularly from employees — some of whom saw their life-savings wiped out in the largest bankruptcy in US history.

然而，即便事情過去近7年了，仍然有人對這位雷曼老闆懷有敵意，尤其是雷曼員工，一些員工認爲，他們一輩子的積蓄在這起美國曆史上規模最大的破產案中被葬送。

“I have a few words I’d like to say to him,” said Brian Choi, a former Lehman employee who is now vice-president at Woerner Holdings, investment firm. “You screwed so many.” Another in the audience remarked: “There should be a Plexiglas shield in front of him.”

“我有幾句話想跟他說，”前雷曼員工、現任投資機構Woerner Holdings副總裁的Brian Choi表示，“你毀了很多人。”觀衆席上的另一人表示：“他前面應該佈置一個有機玻璃盾牌。”

Mr Fuld showed no sign of contrition over the demise of the bank, which he led from 1994. The crisis was “a perfect storm . . .” he said, “but it starts with the government”.

對於雷曼破產，富爾德沒有表現出任何懺悔之意，他從1994年開始掌管雷曼。這場危機是“一次完美風暴……”他表示，“但它是從政府開始的”。

It paved the way for unsuitable borrowers to buy homes, caused an interest rate shock and then unfairly “mandated” the bankruptcy of Lehman while saving competitors.

政府使不符合條件的借款人能夠順利購房，引發了一場利率衝擊，然後不公正地“命令”雷曼破產，卻挽救了競爭對手。

He insisted Lehman was still solvent when it was placed into bankruptcy, citing the bank’s $28bn of equity capital, a capital ratio of 11 per cent and unencumbered collateral of $127bn.

他堅稱雷曼在被送入破產程序時仍具有清償能力，根據是該行擁有280億美元的股權資本、11%的資本充足率，以及1270億美元無產權負擔的抵押品。

“There’s so much I’d love to say,” he said. “Dah dah dah dah dah . . . enough said on that.” He reached for a glass by the stage and took a sip. “No, this is not scotch or rum,” he quipped.

“我想說的事情太多了，”他說。“噠噠噠噠噠……這方面說的夠多了。”他伸手拿起臺上的一個玻璃杯，抿了一口。“不對，這不是威士忌或朗姆酒，”他打趣地說。

Asked why he had chosen to appear, Mr Fuld said: “I thought it was time. You know what. Time for me to raise my ugly head. Our business is growing. I think I’ve gotten a lot of this stuff behind me.

當被問到爲何選擇露面時，富爾德說：“我認爲現在是時候了。你不知道。現在該擡起我的醜陋腦袋了。我們的業務正在增長。我想我已經擺脫了很多事的陰影。”

“I said to all of you: enjoy the ride, no regrets. Please understand, not a day goes by when I don’t think about Lehman Brothers. Not a day. I’d love to tell you I’m over it, it’s behind me. It doesn’t happen.”

“我對你們所有人說過：享受旅程，不要留有遺憾。請理解，我沒有一天不懷念雷曼兄弟。每天都想。我想告訴你，我越過了它，它已在我身後。這不會發生。”