Lex专栏：瑞银已没有犯错空间

UBS published a “transparency report two years ago about what went wrong before the financial crisis. The report was perhaps premature. Yesterday’s SFr1.4bn of Libor-related fines and other charges demonstrate the scale of wrongdoing at the bank between 2005 and 2010. And there is much more besides. UBS has increased its provisions for litigation and regulatory matters by SFr2.7bn this year, and only half of that covers the Libor settlement. The remaining SFr1.3bn will cover other Libor-related issues, as well as claims related to residential mortgage-backed securities. Investors will see very little of the SFr2.5-3bn pre-provision, pre-tax profits that the bank expects to report this year.

两年前，瑞银(UBS)曾发布一份“透明度报告，有关在金融危机前它面对的一些问题。这份报告也许发布得过早了一些。昨日，瑞银因牵涉伦敦银行间同业拆借利率(Libor)丑闻，被处以14亿瑞士法郎罚金，同时它还面对其它一些指控，这足以显示瑞银在2005年到2010年间不当行为的严重程度。事情还不止于此，今年瑞银将与诉讼及监管事宜有关的准备金增加了27亿瑞士法郎，这其中用于上述和解的只占一半。其余13亿瑞士法郎用来解决其他与Libor丑闻有关的问题，以及用于支付住房抵押贷款支持证券的相关赔款。投资者将会发现，瑞银今年预期的25亿至30亿瑞士法郎的拨备及税前利润，恐怕要大打折扣。

UBS is becoming a serial offender in terms of destroying value by means of compliance failures. In 2009, it reached a $780m settlement in the US over tax evasion. Last year, one of its traders lost SFr1.8bn. This year it was fined ￡30m in regard to that incident. These issues together have cost the bank SFr5.2bn over four years, wiping a third off pre-tax profits for the period.

在不合规行为损害公司价值这方面，瑞银正在成为惯犯。2009年，该行因涉嫌逃税，与美国政府达成7.80亿美元和解。去年，该行一位交易员亏损了18亿瑞士法郎，今年该行因该事件被罚款3000万英镑。在四年中所有这些问题总共让瑞银损失52亿瑞士法郎，抹去其三分之一的同期税前利润。

Is there more to come? Other regulators are looking at Libor, as are US class-action lawyers. These are only, as Donald Rumsfeld would say, the “known unknowns. There may be more skeletons in the closet.

类似问题还会出现么？目前其他监管机构正在调查Libor丑闻，美国的集体诉讼律师们也一样。然而，所有这些不过是唐纳德·拉姆斯菲尔德(Donald Rumsfeld)所说的“已知的未知情况。也许还有更多见不得光的丑事没有曝光。

The shares initially rose yesterday, reflecting relief that the Libor problem has a number attached to it, and that it will not affect UBS’s capital position. The bank will have a Basel III common equity tier one ratio of 9.3 per cent at the year’s end, the same as at the end of third quarter; the Libor fines have been offset by deleveraging. Shares have rallied 50 per cent since the end of July as investors warmed to UBS’s plans to scale back its investment bank. But they now trade on a hefty 1.3 times tangible book value. That leaves little room for error, which, at UBS, is very often needed.

瑞银股价昨日开盘出现上涨，显示投资者心中一块石头落地——Libor丑闻赔偿数额尘埃落定，而且不会影响瑞银的资本状况。今年底瑞银《巴塞尔协议III》(Basel III)一级普通资本充足率将为9.3%，与第三季度末持平；Libor丑闻罚金的影响被去杠杆化抵消。自7月底以来，由于投资者对于瑞银缩减投行部门的计划反响积极，瑞银股价反弹了50%。然而，瑞银当前股价高达有形账面价值的1.3倍。这意味着瑞银几乎没有什么犯错误的空间了，而瑞银却经常会需要这种空间。

Lex专栏是由FT评论家联合撰写的短评，对全球经济与商业进行精辟分析