FT社评：银行业如何重塑信任？

Since the financial crisis, banks have talked a lot about the need to restore trust and prove their social usefulness. But the protestations of reform have often seemed pro-forma, concealing a real desire to return as swiftly as possible to pre-crunch business as usual.

自此次金融危机爆发以来，银行大谈有必要重塑信任，证明自身于社会有用。但这种改革宣言似乎经常流于形式，掩盖了它们只想尽快恢复到危机前常态的真实意图。

While acknowledging the need for stronger regulation, bosses have bridled at changing the way they manage institutions. They have persisted in chasing over-optimistic returns and paying sky-high salaries, arguing that to do otherwise would condemn their banks to also-ran status. The hard-sell investment banking culture has continued to predominate.

尽管承认有必要加强监管，但银行老总们不屑于改变他们的管理方式。他们执意追逐高回报，抱着过分乐观的看法，并支付高额薪水，辩称如果不这样做就会落后。硬性推销文化在投资银行业继续大行其道。

As 2012 has gone on, however, cracks have appeared in this position. These are partly the product of costly scandals that have tumbled out, which have in turn underlined the reputational and financial costs of the sales culture.

然而，今年以来这种态度似乎有所松动。这在一定程度上归因于接连曝光的银行业丑闻，这些丑闻令银行付出高昂代价，也突显出了那种销售文化让银行在声誉和财务方面付出的代价。

The revelation over the summer that banks had manipulated the Libor interest rate so outraged shareholders that in one case – that of Barclays – they ejected the entire top management team (which was dominated by investment bankers). Meanwhile, the spiralling cost of mis-selling scandals in the UK – for payment protection insurance and interest rate derivatives – has emphasised the threat posed to still-weak balance sheets by aggressive transaction-based banking.

今年夏季曝光的多家银行操纵伦敦银行间同业拆借利率(Libor)的丑闻令股东们非常愤怒，其中巴克莱(Barclays)的股东们甚至罢免了整个高层管理团队（主要由投资银行家组成）。与此同时，英国违规销售支付保护保险和利率衍生品丑闻持续发酵，由此造成的影响突显出以激进交易为基础的银行业务对仍然疲弱的资产负债表构成的风险。

But it is not only scandals that have changed the mood. Tightening regulation has started to unpick elements of the pre-crunch model. By forcing investment banks to run with less leverage and driving up the marginal cost of funding, the new rules are progressively driving some banks out of trading. Last week, UBS of Switzerland acknowledged the writing on the wall and announced plans to shut down parts of its investment bank, shedding 10,000 jobs.

但导致态度改变的不仅仅是丑闻。监管收紧也开始消除危机前银行业模式的一些元素。通过迫使投行降低杠杆率和推高边际融资成本，新规正逐渐促使部分银行退出交易业务。上周，瑞银(UBS)承认前景不妙，并宣布计划关闭部分投行业务和裁员1万人。

These changes are welcome. While lucrative for practitioners, the pre-crunch banking model brought precious few social benefits. Little if any value was created for investors. It is telling that news of UBS’s withdrawal precipitated a strong rally in its shares.

这些变化是受欢迎的。危机前的银行业模式尽管让从业者有利可图，对社会却没有多大益处，也没有为投资者创造多少价值。瑞银削减投行业务的消息推动其股价大幅上涨，就很能说明问题。

But if it is welcome that banks are pulling back from some “me too trading activities, this will not in itself end the hard-driving short term culture that has come to characterise banking institutions. More still needs to be done if the system is to be run in the interests of shareholders, customers and the economy rather than bankers themselves.

但尽管银行退出某些“模仿交易活动令人欢迎，这种做法本身并不会终结银行业机构作风强硬的短期文化。如果要让银行业体系的运营符合股东、客户和整体经济（而不是银行家自身）的利益，我们还需要更加努力。

Managements must be more realistic about the returns that banks can achieve, and more responsive to efforts to cut gearing and raise capital over time. Bonuses and pay should be more modest. The service culture must be restored in high street banking. These are not things that can be fixed by a few rule-tweaks, or by bolstering the capital that banks are required to hold. They require a real change of heart and expectation. If this cannot be achieved by the current leadership, a new generation will have to be sent for. For until there is real cultural change, the banker bashing will not end.

管理层必须对银行能够实现的回报有更现实的认识，更好地响应旨在降低杠杆率和增加资本的措施。奖金和薪资应该降至更为合理的水平。零售银行业必须恢复服务文化。这些问题并非通过调整一些规则或提高银行资本金要求就可以得到解决，而要求切实地改变心态和预期。如果当前的领导人不能做到这一点，将不得不寄望于新一代领导人。因为在银行业文化真正改变之前，对银行家的抨击将不会停止。