國信證券香港分支機構發生違約
A unit of Guosen Securities, China’s eighth-largest investment bank, has defaulted on a Kong Kong-traded renminbi bond, according to a document seen by the Financial Times, marking the first debt breach by a state-owned enterprise in China’s offshore bond market in nearly two decades.
根據英國《金融時報》看到的一份文件，中國第八大投資銀行國信證券(Guosen Securities)的一個部門，在一筆在香港交易的人民幣債券上發生了違約。這是近20年來中國國有企業在中國境外債券市場中首次違約。
The technical default by Guosen's Hong Kong affiliate puts at risk a Rmb38m ($5.9m) coupon payment due April 24 on Rmb1.2bn in “dim sum” bonds sold in 2014. Missing that payment would set a precedent for the offshore units of Chinese SOEs, whose creditors widely assume the onshore parent will always stand behind its affiliates, according to analysts.
國信證券香港分支機構的這次技術性違約，令一筆本該在4月24日支付的3800萬元人民幣（合590萬美元）的利息面臨風險，涉及的債券規模爲12億元人民幣，是2014年銷售的一批“點心”債。根據分析師的說法，未能及時支付這筆資金會爲中國國企境外部門設立一個先例。這些國企的債權人曾普遍認爲，它們的分支機構背後永遠站着其在中國境內的母公司。
The default was unexpected because Guosen’s onshore unit is by all appearances in rude health. With the city government of Shenzhen as its largest shareholder, Guosen Securities was fourth on the league table for stock and bond underwriting in 2015, according to AsiaMoney.
這次違約的出人意料之處在於，無論從哪方面看，國信境內部門財務狀況都非常好。由於深圳市政府是國信證券的最大股東，按照《亞洲貨幣》(AsiaMoney)的排名，2015年國信證券在股票和債券承銷的排行榜上名列第四。
The Shenzhen-listed brokerage earned net profit of Rmb14.2bn in 2015, up 188 per cent from a year earlier, according to a filing in January. It ranked eighth among mainland brokerages by assets at the end of 2014, according to industry association figures.
根據今年1月份提交的一份文件，這家在深圳上市的券商2015年的淨利潤爲142億元人民幣，同比增長1.88倍。根據行業協會給出的數據，2014年底該公司在內地券商中資產規模排第八位。
Like other Chinese securities companies, Guosen benefited from a surge in stock trading commissions during China’s equity market roller coaster last year. But its offshore unit, Guosen Securities (HK) Financial Holdings, has struggled to gain a foothold in Hong Kong’s capital markets, where foreign and mainland banks compete on a more level playing field.
和其他中國券商類似，去年股市上演過山車行情時，股票交易委託量的激增曾令國信證券受益匪淺。不過，在外資銀行和內地銀行競爭環境更公平的香港資本市場，該公司的境外部門國信證券（香港）金融控股有限公司(Guosen Securities (HK) Financial Holdings)卻很難站穩腳跟。
A special purpose vehicle owned by Guosen (HK) issued the bonds in April 2014 at an interest rate of 6.4 per cent.
這批債券是2014年4月，由國信證券（香港）旗下一個特設目的公司(Special Purpose Vehicle)以6.4%的利率發行的。
State media reported in 2011 that Guosen HK had doubled its staff in Hong Kong to 200 that year after hiring HSBC veteran Chen Gang to head its investment banking division. The company hoped to help mainland companies looking to tap the Hong Kong capital markets.
2011年，官媒曾報道稱，在聘請匯豐銀行(HSBC)資深人士陳剛(Chen Gang，音譯)擔任其投行部門主管後，國信證券（香港）當年把在香港的員工增加了一倍。該公司希望能幫助那些尋求開發香港資本市場的中國內地企業。
The dim sum bond market emerged around 2010 as China moved to encourage international use of its currency. With renminbi accumulating in Hong Kong and other offshore financial hubs, Chinese and foreign issuers took advantage of interest rates typically lower than those available in China’s onshore debt market. Last year, dim sum issuance slumped to less than Rmb6bn after hitting a record Rmb33bn in 2014.
點心債市場是在2010年左右中國着手鼓勵國際社會使用人民幣的背景下出現的。在人民幣彙集到香港及其他境外金融中心之際，中外發行商享受到了通常低於中國境內債券市場的利率。在2014年達到創紀錄的330億元人民幣的發行規模之後，去年點心債券的發行規模下滑至不到60億元人民幣。
After years in which investors reliably assumed that China’s government would not permit any corporate default, missed payments have become more common in both the onshore and offshore bond markets, but SOE defaults remain rare.
有好幾年投資者都確信無疑地認爲，中國政府不會容忍任何企業違約。然而在那之後，不論在境內還是境外債券市場，未能及時償付的現象已變得更加常見，不過國企違約的現象依然十分罕見。
Baoding Tianwei, a manufacturer of electric transformers, became the first SOE to default on a domestic bond last April.
去年4月，變壓器生產商保定天威集團(Baoding Tianwei Group)成爲首家在境內債券上違約的國企。
In the offshore market, companies including LDK Solar and property developer Kaisa Group have defaulted in recent years, but neither an SOE nor any Chinese financial institution has defaulted since the collapse of Guangdong International Trust and Investment in 1999.
在境外市場，包括賽維LDK(LDK Solar)和房地產開發商佳兆業(Kaisa Group)在內的企業曾在近幾年發生違約。不過，自1999年廣東國際信託投資公司(Guangdong International Trust and Investment Corp)破產以來，從未有國企或任何中國金融機構發生違約。
Bank of New York Mellon’s Hong Kong branch, which serves as trustee for the bond, warned Guosen’s bondholders that a provision of the so-called keepwell deed associated with the Guosen bond “is not in full force and effect, which constitutes an Event of Default”, according to the document dated March 23.
根據這份日期爲3月23日的文件，該債券的受託方、紐約梅隆銀行(Bank of New York Mellon)香港分行警告國信債券的持有者，與國信的債券伴隨的所謂維持良好運營協議(keepwell deed，簡稱維好協議)的條款“並非完全有效，這構成了違約事項(Event of Default)”。
Chinese companies have used keepwell structures in offshore bond sales as a way to provide a degree of security to foreign investors. Until mid-2014, China’s foreign exchange regulator forbade onshore companies from issuing direct guarantees of offshore debt.
在境外債券銷售過程中，中國企業一直把維好協議機制作爲向外國投資者提供一定程度安全保障的一種方式。直至2014年中期以前，中國外匯監管機構一直禁止中國境內企業發行對境外債券的直接擔保，
“Keepwell deeds are not guarantees and are subject to much greater legal and regulatory uncertainty than compared to guarantees,” Gary Lau, managing director at ratings agency Moody’s, warned in 2014.
評級機構穆迪(Moody's)董事總經理劉長浩(Gary Lau)曾在2014年警告稱：“維好協議並非擔保，與擔保相比，它在法律和監管方面的不確定性大得多。”
Most Chinese offshore bonds are issued through tax-haven-domiciled SPVs, leaving investors with little recourse to onshore assets. It isn’t clear which provision of the keepwell deed, which was agreed by Guosen’s onshore parent, had been violated.
多數中國境外債券是通過註冊地點位於避稅天堂的特設目的公司(SPV)發行的，這令投資者沒法得到中國境內資產的援手。在國信境內母公司批准通過的維好協議中，具體違反了哪個條款目前仍不清楚。
Shares in Guosen Securities rose 3.4 per cent in Shenzhen on Wednesday.
週三，國信證券在深市的股票上漲了3.4%。
Guosen Securities (HK) Financial Holdings and Guosen Securities could not be immediately reached for comment.
記者無法立即與國信證券（香港）金融控股和國信證券取得聯繫，以置評此事。
