英国FSA收紧对海外银行监管

The UK’s chief financial watchdog has sharply tightened its grip on overseas banks that want to take deposits in Britain, pressuring them to open locally regulated subsidiaries with their own access to cash and capital.

英国头号金融监管机构大幅收紧了对那些想在英国经营存款业务的海外银行的管理，这些银行被迫在英国开设受当地监管、且自身拥有现金和资本金的子行。

The Financial Services Authority is at the forefront of moves by global regulators to force the arms of overseas banks to have separate capital and liquidity to protect depositors and taxpayers from a bank collapse.

如今，全球各国的监管机构都在采取措施，要求海外银行的分支机构拥有独立的资本金和流动性，以在母行破产时保护储户和纳税人。英国金融服务管理局(FSA)在这方面走在全球同行的前面。

Since 2007, the FSA has allowed just four banks to open branches, which rely on their parent for capital, while approving 14 new subsidiaries and six new UK-only banks, according to statistics obtained by the Financial Times. Five of the subsidiaries are arms of banks that previously had branches.

英国《金融时报》得到的统计数据显示，2007年以来，FSA只批准了4家海外银行在英国开设在资本金方面需仰仗母行的分行，另一方面却新批准海外银行在英国开设14家子行以及6家专营英国业务的银行，其中5家子行所从属的海外银行先前已在英国开设分行。

US Federal Reserve officials are also talking about imposing tougher capital and liquidity standards on overseas banks and US and UK regulators today will unveil proposals to force their biggest banks to hold capital at the group level so that foreign and domestic subsidiaries could be kept open even if the parent goes bankrupt.

美联储(Fed)官员也在谈论收紧海外银行的资本金和流动性标准。英美监管机构今天将宣布多项提议，强制两国的大银行在集团层面持有资本金，这样即便母行倒闭，国内外的子行也能继续营业。

The moves are aimed at protecting depositors and preventing a repeat of the financial crisis but bankers and industry analysts say the statistics are an early-warning sign that the global market in financial services is fragmenting, potentially driving up lending costs and forcing international banks to pull out of some markets.

监管机构这么做，是为了保护储户和防止金融危机重演。但银行家和银行业分析师表示，上述统计数据具有“预警意义，标志着全球金融服务市场正走向割裂，这可能会推高放贷成本、迫使跨国银行撤离某些市常

The FSA’s push started in 2008 when the UK had to step in to protect British depositors in branches of Icelandic banks that collapsed. Its drive has accelerated recently. In September, it announced plans to force non- EU banks to use subsidiaries if they are from countries such as the US and Australia that give preference to home depositors in the case of a bankruptcy.

FSA的上述努力始于2008年。当时，英国当局曾被迫出手，为冰岛多家破产银行的分行的英国储户提供保护。近来，这一努力的进展有所加快。今年9月，FSA宣布了多项方案，规定来自美国和澳大利亚等国的非欧盟国家银行如想在英国经营，就必须采取子行形式，因为这些国家的银行在破产时优先保护母国储户。

For many banks, though, operating through a subsidiary is more expensive. China’s largest state-owned banks recently wrote to the UK Treasury complaining about the FSA’s refusal to let them open branches and said they were routing business to Luxembourg instead.

不过，对于许多银行来说，以子行形式运营的成本相对较高。中国几家大型国有银行最近写信给英国财政部(UK Treasury)抱怨称，FSA拒绝批准它们在英国开设分行；它们还表示，将转而在卢森堡处理英国业务。

The watchdogs argue that customers of subsidiaries are covered by their home deposit insurance schemes and local regulators keep closer tabs on banks in their jurisdiction.

监管机构辩称，子行的客户会受到子行所在国存款保险机制的保护，而且所在国监管者对辖区内银行的监控也更为严密。

Several banks privately cited the FSA’s initiative as a key reason for their decision to open subsidiaries.

几家银行私下表示，FSA的上述努力是它们决定在英国开设子行的一项关键原因。

Additional reporting by Kerin Hope in Athens

克林·霍普(Kerin Hope)雅典补充报道