破產銀行衍生品交易規則將改變

The world’s biggest banks have agreed to tear up the rule book on derivatives to make it easier to resolve a future failing institution like Lehman Brothers.

全球最大銀行已同意修改衍生品交易規則，未來讓像雷曼兄弟(Lehman Brothers)這樣機構的破產清算更爲容易。

People familiar with the matter said 18 bank “dealers”, ranging from Credit Suisse to Goldman Sachs, have agreed to give up the right to pull the plug on derivatives contracts with a crisis-stricken institution.

知情人士稱，18家銀行“交易商”（從瑞士信貸(Credit Suisse)到高盛(Goldman Sachs)）已經同意，當銀行遭受金融危機打擊時，放棄與其終止衍生品合約的權利。

Several months of complex talks involved regulators and asset managers but were led by dealers under the umbrella of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.

幾個月的複雜談判包括監管機構和資產經理，但由國際互換和衍生品協會(International Swaps and Derivatives Association)管理下的交易商主導。

US regulators, who have previously condemned the industry’s crisis planning as inadequate, had demanded banks come up with a plan to stop their counterparties terminating derivatives contracts in the event of a crisis. The banks portrayed the success of the talks as a rare positive example of industry collaboration.

美國監管機構此前要求銀行制定一份計劃，在發生危機時阻止對手方終止衍生品合約。銀行將此次談判的成功視爲一個罕有的行業合作的積極例子。美國監管機構此前譴責衍生品行業的危機計劃不夠完善。

Isda is due to announce the agreement to change its “protocols”, which govern the $700tn market, in the next few days. They will take effect from January 1 2015.

國際互換和衍生品協會將於未來幾天宣佈這項修改其“規則”的協議，這些規則管理着700萬億美元的衍生品市場。協議將於明年1月1日起實施。

According to a report from the US Government Accountability Office, 80 per cent of Lehman’s derivatives counterparties closed out their deals with the bank within five weeks of its bankruptcy filing.

根據來自美國政府問責局(US Government Accountability Office)的一份報告，雷曼80%的衍生品合約對手方在雷曼遞交破產申請的5周內終止了與該銀行的交易。

That, in theory, helped the companies mitigate their counterparty risk with the failed bank but it also meant that Lehman’s estate had to spend years in court trying to claw back collateral from its partners.

理論上說，中止交易幫助這些公司降低了雷曼會帶來的交易對手風險（counterparty risk），但也意味着雷曼不動產不得不花費多年打官司，從合作伙伴那裏追回抵押品。

“One of the problems with Lehman was when there was a failure of one subsidiary clients of derivatives trades took funding away and took business away, adding to market instability,” said one bank negotiator.

一位銀行談判代表表示：“雷曼的問題之一是當一家子公司破產時，衍生品交易的客戶拿走了資金，也帶走了業務，這加大了市場的不穩定。”

This also made it harder to find buyers for the rump of Lehman. The current thinking among regulators is that the core of a failing institution should be preserved. Although shareholders would be likely to be wiped out, the operating company would be recapitalised or sold to mitigate the shock to the broader financial system.

這還導致雷曼的殘留業務更難找到買家。監管者當前的想法是，破產銀行的核心業務應受到保護。儘管股東可能會血本無歸，但仍在運轉的公司將進行資金重組或被出售，以減輕對更廣泛的金融體系的衝擊。

The concept of “too big to fail” has become hugely controversial since the financial crisis when AIG was bailed out by the US government because of fear of the consequences of its failure.

自此次金融危機以來，“大而不倒”的概念一直極具爭議性，當時由於擔心破產影響，美國政府對美國國際集團(AIG)進行了紓困。

Regulators have been struggling to come up with a viable system to avoid a repeat of the expensive bailout of AIG or the damaging failure of Lehman. The Dodd-Frank financial reforms in the US and parallel reforms in Europe instituted new procedures to “resolve” a failing institution but many believed these were unworkable without changes to derivatives contracts.

監管機構一直很難設計出一個可行的體系，來避免AIG代價高昂的紓困或者雷曼具有破壞性的破產再度出現。美國的《多德-弗蘭克金融改革法案》(Dodd-Frank)以及歐洲類似的改革爲“清算”破產銀行制定了新程序，但很多人認爲，如果衍生品合約沒有修改的話，這些改革都將是不可行的。