经济学人97:"可可"债券 大规模转变

 　　“Coco” bonds

　　“可可”债券

　　Mass conversion¹

　　大规模转变

　　Investors² are panting for a risky³ new form of bonds issued by banks

　　风险投资者们在寻求银行已发行债券之冒险新形势

　　IT TOOK three separate bail-outs to get KBC, a Belgian bank, through the financial crisis. So one might expect bonds that automatically get wiped out if the bank runs into trouble again to reward investors handsomely. Not so: KBC's “contingent convertible” bonds, designed to lose all their value in a crisis, yield a meagre 4% a year. Egged on by investors, banks are issuing such securities in growing amounts. Regulators are watching anxiously.

　　为平安度过金融危机比利时央行已三次将优先股作为分红发给股东们。因此有些人可能会认为：如果银行再次因给予投资者丰厚回报而陷入困境的话，债券可能会因此而销声匿迹。恰恰相反：比利时央行发行的“或有可转换”债券，被认为认为将会于危机中失去其所有价值，一年收益率也达到了4%。受投资者的煽动，银行不断的发行此类有价债券。监管机构对此也颇为焦虑。

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　　Cocos, as these instruments are known, are a newish hybrid⁴ of bank equity⁵ and debt. Regulators globally are keen on banks having more equity. This makes bail-outs less likely and, if they prove inevitable⁶, less painful for taxpayers⁷. Bankers prefer debt because it lowers their tax bill, and juices both profits and bonuses. Cocos are the compromise.

　　Cocos，不同于这些已知票据，是银行股本以及债务的新生儿。全球的监管机构都希望银行能够拥有更多的股本这会使得将优先股作为分红发放变得极不可能并且有助于缓解纳税人压力如若此举不可避免的话。银行则因为低税率以及利润和奖金的成本而更喜欢举债。Cocos便是折中的结果。

　　Cocos take multiple forms, but all are intended to behave like bonds when times are good, yet absorb losses, equity-like, in a crisis. At a given trigger point, when equity levels are so low that bankruptcy⁸ threatens, cocos either lose some or all of their value, or get exchanged for shares. Regulators have allowed them to be used in limited quantities to meet increased equity requirements. Banks promise the coco bondholders will get “bailed in”, to use the regulatory argot⁹, in lieu of taxpayers.

　　它采取了多重形式：在光景较好的时候和债券并无两样，在经济危机承受损失之时更像是普通股。这之间有一个给定的触发点—当股本水平低到有破产的危险之时，cocos要么失去部分或全部的价值，要么用来换取股份。监管者们已经允少量的cocos被使用来满足增加的股本要求。银行也允诺coco的债券持有者将会代替纳税人得到“援助”—用监管者的行话来讲。

　　Fans describe cocos as “pre-funded rights issues”, a metaphorical¹⁰ fire extinguisher in an otherwise tinder-like capital structure. But similar “hybrid” instruments misfired in the last crisis; none of the new generation of cocos has ever been tested. Some fret¹¹ that coco bondholders could incur¹² losses even as the issuer continues to reward shareholders¹³, in defiance¹⁴ of fundamental laws of capitalism¹⁵.

　　拥护者将cocos形容为“先行投资的权利股发行”，是其他易燃资本结构的一个隐喻性的灭火器。但是类似的“混血”产物在过去的经济危机中并未奏效；同时新生代的cocos从未接受过考验。有些人苦恼coco的债券持有人将会在发行者无视资本主义规律继续回报股东之时蒙受损失。

　　Such qualms¹⁶ have not stopped investors from piling in, at ever lower yields. Banks have duly stepped up issuance: from nearly nothing in 2010 to 64 billion so far this year. Credit Suisse, itself a coco-issuing bank, expects at least another 20 billion by year-end.

　　良心上的不安没能阻止投资者们在收益率较低时涌入。银行已经适当的加大了发行量：从2010年的几乎为零到至今的640亿美元。瑞士信贷作为其中的发行银行之一，会在今年年底另增发行200亿美元。

　　Much of this has come from big-name European lenders, such as HSBC, which is preparing a 6 billion issue. A mob of smaller banks is expected to follow suit later this year, after the European Central Bank vets¹⁷ their accounts. Peers in the Middle East and Asia are also lining¹⁸ up.

　　它们中的大多数都来自于诸如丰汇银行之类的欧洲知名银行。在欧洲中央银行通过一些小型银行的审查之后，它们预计将会在今年年底效仿发行。同时中东以及亚洲的银行也在排队。

　　Investors disagree whether cocos should be viewed as perilous¹⁹ bonds or slightly less risky shares. Amusingly and worryingly, a recent survey by Royal Bank of Scotland found that 90% of investors thought their understanding of cocos was better than average. Whizzy hedge funds used to dominate the market, but sleepier asset managers are investing in growing numbers.

　　投资者对于将cocos视为危险债券或者低风险股票持不赞成的态度。说起来有趣但同时又令人担忧的是苏格兰皇家银行一项近期的研究发现：90%的投资者认为他们对于cocos的了解高于平均水平。过去是高端的对冲基金来主导市场，但现在不活跃的资产管理公司越来越多。

　　Coco yields have fallen in part because banks' balance-sheets are growing sturdier. That could change in a flash, especially if the euro zone tips back into crisis. Alex Lasagna of Algebris, a hedge fund, says each bank and bond presents its own idiosyncratic risks. The diciest of them, he says, are equivalent to “picking up pennies in front of a bullet train”.

　　Coco投资效益下降的部分原因是由于银行的资产负债表变得越来越坚实。但这可能会在瞬间改变，尤其是当欧元区可能会到退回危机中。对冲基金Algebris的Alex Lasagna认为每个银行以及债券都呈现出了其特有的风险。它们的风险相当于“子弹头列出前捡起硬币”用他的话来说。

　　Regulators, who crave²⁰ a simpler financial system, wonder whether cocos will make dealing²¹ with failing banks even trickier²². The triggering of one coco will frighten investors away from all of them. Lawsuits²³ will undoubtedly²⁴ ensue, injecting panic at the most awkward time. Given recent experience, the watchdogs are right to be wary²⁵ of anything banks are keen on.

　　监管机构的确渴望一个更为简单的金融机构所以他们想知道是否cocos会使得处理银行破产变得更加棘手。一个coco的失败将会作为一个触发点使得所有的投资者远离他们。毫无疑问法律诉讼会随之而来在最尴尬的时候注入恐慌。鉴于近期经验，对于监管者而言警惕任何银行热衷的事情是再必要不过了。

1 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

4 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

5 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

6 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

7 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

8 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

9 argot   

n.隐语，黑话

参考例句：

• He knows thieves' argot.他懂盗贼的黑话。
• The argot and proverb created by them enrich Chinese language.他们创造的隐语、谚语丰富了中国的语言。

10 metaphorical   

a.隐喻的，比喻的

参考例句：

• Here, then, we have a metaphorical substitution on a metonymic axis. 这样，我们在换喻（者翻译为转喻，一种以部分代替整体的修辞方法）上就有了一个隐喻的替代。
• So, in a metaphorical sense, entropy is arrow of time. 所以说，我们可以这样作个比喻：熵像是时间之矢。

11 fret   

v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损

参考例句：

• Don't fret.We'll get there on time.别着急，我们能准时到那里。
• She'll fret herself to death one of these days.她总有一天会愁死的.

12 incur   

vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇

参考例句：

• Any costs that you incur will be reimbursed in full.你的所有花费都将全额付还。
• An enterprise has to incur certain costs and expenses in order to stay in business.一个企业为了维持营业,就不得不承担一定的费用和开支。

13 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

14 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。

15 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

16 qualms   

n.不安；内疚

参考例句：

• He felt no qualms about borrowing money from friends.他没有对于从朋友那里借钱感到不安。
• He has no qualms about lying.他撒谎毫不内疚。

17 vets   

abbr.veterans （复数）老手，退伍军人；veterinaries （复数）兽医n.兽医( vet的名词复数 )；老兵；退伍军人；兽医诊所v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的第三人称单数 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• I helped train many young vets and veterinary nurses too. 我还帮助培训了许多年青的兽医和护士。 来自互联网
• In fact, we've expanded mental health counseling and services for our vets. 实际上，我们已经扩大了退伍军人的心理健康咨询和服务。 来自互联网

18 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

19 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。

20 crave   

vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求

参考例句：

• Many young children crave attention.许多小孩子渴望得到关心。
• You may be craving for some fresh air.你可能很想呼吸呼吸新鲜空气。

21 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

22 trickier   

adj.狡猾的( tricky的比较级 )；（形势、工作等）复杂的；机警的；微妙的

参考例句：

• This is the general rule, but some cases are trickier than others. 以上是一般规则，但某些案例会比别的案例更为棘手。 来自互联网
• The lower the numbers go, the trickier the problems get. 武器的数量越低，问题就越复杂。 来自互联网

23 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

24 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

25 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。