中国央行副行长“空降”建设银行

Beijing Taps Regulator as Head Of China Construction Bank

Seeking to limit the damage to its second-largest lender ahead of an overseas listing, China named its top foreign-exchange regulator to become that bank's powerful Communist Party chief after the departure of its chairman under a corruption cloud.

A notice on the Web site of China Construction Bank said Guo Shuqing, now charged with looking after China's $610 billion in foreign-exchange reserves, would take the party job, putting him in charge.

There was no word on whether Mr. Guo would assume the position of chairman vacated by Zhang Enzhao, whose abrupt departure was announced Wednesday. But in China's bureaucratic hierarchy, which includes state enterprises, the top Communist Party official outranks all others. In big state banks, the chairman and party secretary are the same person.

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Mr. Guo, director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, is also a vice governor of the People's Bank of China , the central bank. By putting one of the country's most senior financial regulators in control of the bank, Beijing is giving a clear signal it intends to tighten controls and improve management. At the same time, China clearly wants to send a reassuring message to foreign investors ahead of China Construction Bank's planned stock-market listing this year in Shanghai and Hong Kong aimed at raising up to $10 billion.

Officially, Mr. Zhang resigned for "personal reasons," though the official Chinese media Thursday suggested for the first time that he may be in trouble. The Economic Daily said management changes at China Construction Bank should serve as a warning to officials of state banks not to abuse their powers. The "problems" exposed in the bank's management should alert state banks against any abuses, the report said, quoting an official at the China Banking Regulatory Commission. In the report, the official didn't elaborate.

Industry executives familiar with the situation say Mr. Zhang is being held in a Beijing guesthouse while authorities investigate an alleged graft scandal.

Beijing can take no chances with Mr. Zhang's successor. Mr. Zhang took over after the bank's previous head, Wang Xuebing, was fired in 2002 and jailed in 2003 for corruption charges stemming from his previous career at Bank of China, another big state bank.

The irony is that while China's banks are being pressed to become world-class commercial enterprises, the Communist Party still makes all the important personnel decisions, a legacy of the planned socialist economy when banks acted as cashiers of government, disbursing funds to state-owned enterprises.

"The central [party] decision to assign Comrade Guo Shuqing to work at China Construction Bank shows the high attention paid by the central [party] to the bank's work," the Web statement said. The comment was attributed to bank President Chang Zhenming, who took over as temporary chairman after Mr. Zhang's departure.

Making Mr. Guo the bank's party chief has "very important meaning" for stabilizing the bank and guaranteeing the orderly development of its shareholding reform and other work, the statement said.

The central bank now has an iron grip on both China Construction Bank and Bank of China, which also is seeking an overseas stock-market listing this year. A company under the People's Bank of China owns virtually all the shares in both banks after injecting capital of $45 billion into the state lenders to allow them to unload piles of bad debt.

Both banks are wooing the world's biggest financial institutions as "strategic partners" ahead of their listings. They are hoping to secure investments of hundreds of millions of dollars, as well as valuable management know-how. But industry analysts say the latest scandal could reduce the price potential investors are prepared to pay by heightening their fear of risk. Some also say developments could delay the listings.

Top Chinese officials have publicly expressed irritation and impatience with the pace of overhauls at the country's banks and questioned the competence of top bank executives. Fixing the country's debt-laden banks by putting in place modern risk management and credit controls is vital to the health of the bank-dominated financial system.

Bringing Mr. Guo over from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange could potentially unsettle financial markets at a time when speculation is swirling about a change to the country's system of fixed exchange rates.

Surging capital inflows, some speculative, are making it hard for Chinese authorities to hold inflation in check. Expectations are growing that Beijing will seek to relieve the upward pressure on money supply by making its exchange rate more flexible. Mr. Guo has been quoted as saying in the past few weeks that changes to the foreign-exchange system are on the way, without suggesting any timetable.
中国央行副行长“空降”建设银行


中国政府宣布由中国央行(People's Bank of China)副行长郭树清担任中国建设银行(China Construction Bank)党委书记一职，以防止前董事长涉嫌贪污一事产生的不利影响在该行赴海外募股之前继续扩大。

建设银行网站的声明称，郭树清将担任党委书记一职。但目前尚不清楚郭树清是否还会接替本周三突然辞职的张恩照出任建设银行的新任董事长一职。

根据中国的官员体制，在国营企业内党委书记实际上就是企业的最高管理者。在大型国有银行中，董事长和党委书记都由同一人担任。

郭树清此前兼任的国家外汇管理局局长一职不再担任。中国政府让金融监管高官入主建设银行具有“一石二鸟”的作用：一方面明确表明政府准备加强监管，提高该行的治理水平；另一方面，由于建设银行今年准备在上海和香港进行首次公开募股、募集资金规模最高可达100亿美元，此举显然还旨在安抚外国投资者的不安情绪。

尽管建设银行的正式声明称张恩照因“个人原因”辞职，中国官方媒体这次破天荒地指出张恩照可能是遇到了麻烦。《经济日报》的报道称，建设银行管理层的调整给国有银行的老总们提了个醒，告诫他们切勿滥用手中的权力。《经济日报》援引中国银监会(China Banking Regulatory Commission)一位官员的讲话称，建设银行暴露出的问题应该为国有银行的高层管理者敲响警钟，提醒他们谨慎使用权力。但这位官员并未透露其他内容。

据知情的业内管理人士称，张恩照目前被关在北京的一家宾馆内，有关部门正在对他是否有贪污行为展开调查。

北京在安排张恩照的继任者方面必须慎之又慎。张恩照的前任王雪冰因先前在中国银行(Bank of China)的腐败行为于2002年被免去职务，2003年入狱。

虽然中国银行业正面临著改制成为世界一流商业银行的压力，但具有讽刺意味的是所有重要的人事安排都要由政府来决定。这是社会主义计划经济时代──银行充当政府提款机、不考虑商业价值就为国有企业发放贷款──遗留下来的做法。

在张恩照离职后出任代理董事长一职的常振明在建设银行网站的声明中表示，“中央决定派郭树清同志来建设银行工作，充分说明了中央对建设银行工作的高度重视。”

声明还表示，郭树清来建设银行工作“对稳定全行思想，保证建设银行股份制改造和各项工作有序开展，有著重要意义。”

中国央行目前牢牢地掌控著准备赴海外上市的建设银行和中国银行。在为建设银行和中国银行总计注资450亿美元、帮助它们削减不良贷款之后，中国央行的一家下属企业实际上控制著这两家银行全部的股份。

这两家银行都希望在公开上市前、吸引大型国际金融机构成为战略投资者。它们渴望获得数亿美元的投资以及宝贵的管理经验。但业内分析师指出，建设银行的最新丑闻有可能加深外国投资者的风险担忧，使他们调低愿意支付的认股价。还有一些人士甚至认为，上市计划有可能推后。

中国政府领导人已经在公开场合对国内银行业的改革进程表示了不满，他们还对某些银行高层管理者的能力提出了质疑。为坏帐充斥的银行业引入现代化风险管理和信贷控制机制，对于银行业占主导地位的中国金融体系的健康发展具有至关重要的意义。

原为国家外汇管理局局长的郭树清入主建设银行，可能会在金融市场上掀起波澜，因为此时正值各种关于中国准备调整外汇体制的传闻满天飞的敏感时刻。

包括游资在内的入境资本猛增给中国政府有效控制通货膨胀形势增添了难度。有关北京准备通过放宽外汇体制来缓解货币供应量上升压力的猜测正愈演愈烈。过去几周里，有报道援引时任国家外汇管理局局长郭树清的讲话称，中国正在对外汇体系进行改革，但没有给出具体的时间表。

China Construction Bank Chairman Zhang Resigns-Xinhua

The chairman of China Construction Bank (CCB.YY), Zhang Enzhao, has resigned for personal reasons, the bank said Wednesday.

The bank's board met Wednesday and decided its president, Chang Zhenming, will take on the duties of the chairmanship until a new chairman is elected, the bank said in a statement on its Web site.

China Construction Bank is one of China's four biggest state commercial banks.

Chang, previously chairman of CITIC Ka Wah Bank, became Construction Bank's president when China Construction Bank reorganized into a shareholding company in September last year.

Chang replaced Zhang, who became the chairman of the restructured bank.

The bank's statement didn't elaborate on the unexpected resignation of Zhang, a 41-year veteran of China's banking industry.

As reported earlier, people familiar with the situation in Hong Kong told The Asian Wall Street Journal that Zhang's movements and activities had been monitored and restricted since last Thursday as part of an investigation by Chinese authorities into corruption.

The news of his resignation comes at a critical time for the bank, which is preparing for an initial public offering, valued at up to US$10 billion. The IPO could take place in the second half of this year in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

The bank's statement didn't mention the IPO. A spokesman at the bank wasn't immediately available for comment.

In late 2003, China's government injected a total of $45 billion from foreign exchange reserves into China Construction Bank and Bank of China (BCH.YY), another of the big four commercial banks, as it launched a pilot program for banking sector reform.

China's bad debt-ridden banking system has been rocked by a series of scandals.

Among them, China's banking regulator and authorities are investigating an alleged embezzlement of hundreds of millions of yuan at a Bank of China sub-branch in the northeastern city of Harbin.

Also, Wang Xuebing, Zhang's predecessor, was dismissed after a loan scandal erupted at Bank of China's New York branch, which Wang formerly headed. He was later found guilty of graft and jailed.
中国建设银行董事长因腐败丑闻面临调查



中国建设银行(China Construction Bank)董事长张恩照因他在上海任职期间的一起腐败丑闻目前正受到调查，这是香港的业内消息人士透露的。

目前尚不清楚张恩照受到何种性质的调查。中国银行业监督管理委员会(China Banking Regulatory Commission, 简称：银监会)官员表示，他们不知道此事，而该行董事长办公室的一名职员则称“不清楚”这件事情。

中国银行业一位业内人士称，官方的说法是张恩照周日因“个人原因”递交了辞呈。该业内人士称，银行董事会可能最早于周三开会对其辞呈投票表决。

对张恩照的调查对该行今年的海外上市计划可能是一个沉重打击，因为它凸现出中国境况不佳的银行系统所存在的腐败问题。中国建设银行是中国四大国有银行之一，该银行在2003年年末获得了225亿美元注资，以帮助其在上市前注销坏帐。同样准备上市的中国银行(Bank of China)也获得了注资。

此事件是继中国建设银行和中国银行前行长王雪冰因卷入中国银行腐败丑闻而被免职之后最新的一桩银行高层丑闻。今年年初，中国银行哈尔滨一家分行的行长据称携巨资出逃。

中国另外两家大型国有银行分别是中国工商银行(Industrial and Commercial Bank of China)和中国农业银行(Agricultural Bank of China)。

Chairman Quits Chinese Lender Amid Probe Talk

The chairman of China Construction Bank , China's biggest property lender, has unexpectedly resigned and people familiar with the situation say he is being investigated for possible corruption.

The sudden departure of Zhang Enzhao adds uncertainty to the top ranks of the state-run banking giant just months before a planned stock-market listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong valued at up to US$10 billion. It could potentially damage the share offering by highlighting once again the problem of endemic corruption in China's banking system that extends from boardrooms to branch offices.

People close to the Chinese banking industry say the 58-year-old Mr. Zhang, whose predecessor was sacked for graft and later jailed, stepped down for "personal reasons" Sunday and the board would meet in the next few days to consider the resignation. Press officials at China Construction Bank couldn't be reached for comment. A spokesman for the China Banking Regulatory Commission, Li Shaoping, declined to confirm or deny that Mr. Zhang was leaving or whether there was a corruption probe.

However, people familiar with the situation in Hong Kong say Mr. Zhang's movements and activities have been monitored and restricted since last Thursday as part of an investigation by Chinese authorities into corruption. One person familiar with the case said it involves an alleged kickback related to the purchase of information-technology equipment, but that no charges have been brought.

The case is likely to give further pause to wary foreign institutions as they weigh whether to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in China Construction Bank and the Bank of China, another of the Big Four commercial lenders planning to issues shares overseas.

Beijing clearly faces an uphill battle to overhaul the two commercial lenders, each of which took a government bailout of $22.5 billion in 2003 to strengthen their balance sheets and brought in teams of highly paid foreign consultants and accountants to improve management and present a better image to potential foreign investors.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's said reports of Mr. Zhang's departure amid a corruption probe, if true, "could have an adverse effect on plans by the bank to launch an IPO," depending on whether corruption involved the bank directly. However, it likely would not affect the bank's financial profile or its ratings. News of the scandal was reported by Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper yesterday.

Mr. Zhang is a 41-year veteran of China Construction Bank and spent his entire career in Shanghai before moving to headquarters in Beijing in 1999 as deputy governor. He was removed from day-to-day operational control last year, losing his job as president but retaining the role of chairman, as part of a bank reorganization in preparation for a listing.

According to one person in Hong Kong knowledgeable about the situation, Mr. Zhang is being held in a guesthouse. A replacement may be named as early as this week and will likely be one of the deputy governors of the People's Bank of China, this person said.

Mr. Zhang's predecessor, Wang Xuebing, was removed in 2003 and jailed for 12 years on corruption charges stemming from his earlier career at the Bank of China.

In another high-profile case, the head of the listed Hong Kong arm of the Bank of China, Liu Jinbao, was sacked for graft in 2003 and is now under detention in China.

Chinese banking officials have sought to put a positive spin on a string of theft and corruption scandals, including a case this year in which the manager of a small sub-branch of the Bank of China in the northeastern city of Harbin skipped the country after accounts valued at up to one billion yuan, or about $120 million, were looted. They say revelations of crime, and swift action against those involved, show Beijing is serious about rooting out the corruption that has infested the banking system for decades.

Wu Yonggang, a banking analyst at China's Guotai Junan Securities, says if it turns out Mr. Zhang is embroiled in a corruption scandal it would jolt the bank's reputation in the short term and affect the price of its IPO. "But in the long run, unveiling the scandal now can clear a fatal landmine in the public listing process."

Already, delays by China Construction Bank and Bank of China in announcing foreign "strategic investors" ahead of their planned IPOs suggest that potential investors are seeking to drive a hard bargain, reflecting a perception of risk that now will be heightened. The two banks are aiming to sell stakes of less than 5% for as much as $1 billion, and only a handful of the world's largest financial institutions have deep enough pockets, according to people familiar with the situation. Those interested are trying to structure complex deals that would give them control of lucrative lines of business in the banks, such as credit cards.

Shan Weijian, a managing director of Newbridge Capital, says that "in general, management of Chinese banks is vastly improving." But he adds: "Moral hazard is a big problem." Newbridge is the only foreign investor to have taken control of a Chinese bank, Shenzhen Development Bank. Mr. Shan, speaking with an insider's view of China's banking system, says other deeply ingrained problems include lack of internal controls within banks and a poorly developed credit culture stemming from the days when Chinese banks disbursed government money to state factories as cashiers under the planned socialist economy.

Two smaller Chinese banks -- China Minsheng Banking Corp. and Bank of Communications, partly owned by HSBC Holdings PLC -- are both expected to conduct public offerings in Hong Kong in the second quarter of this year, but analysts don't see the China Construction Bank case affecting their listing schedules or even their valuations.

中国建设银行董事长因涉嫌贪污而辞职



中国建设银行(China Construction Bank)董事长张恩照出人意料地辞职，据知情人士透露，他因涉嫌贪污正在遭到调查。建设银行是中国最大的住房贷款发放机构。

张恩照的突然离职给建设银行其他高层管理人士的命运平添变数，而此时正值关键时期，因为建设银行准备在几个月之后在上海和香港发行总计100亿美元的股票。这起丑闻再次提醒人们中国银行体系的腐败问题从地方分行到总行董事会比比皆是，或许会使建设银行的募股计划受到负面影响。

据消息灵通人士透露说，现年58岁的张恩照在上周日因“个人原因”辞职，建设银行董事会将在今后几天召开董事会考虑其辞呈。张恩照的前任王雪冰就因为贪污而锒铛入狱。记者无法联系到建设银行公关部门管理人士对此置评。中国银监会(China Banking Regulatory Commission)的发言人既没有证实也没有否认张恩照是否已经离职或者遭到腐败调查。

但香港的知情人士表示，中国反腐败部门从上周四起就开始监视和限制张恩照的活动和行为。据某人士透露，张恩照涉嫌收取了与采购一些信息技术(IT)设备有关的回扣，但有关部门尚未对他提起指控。

这一事件有可能让那些外国机构投资者对是否斥资数亿美元参股中国建设银行和中国银行(Bank of China)持更加谨慎的态度。建设银行和中国银行同是中国四大国有商业银行之一，而且都准备赴海外上市。

显而易见，中国政府在对这两家商业银行进行全面整顿的过程中面临著艰巨的任务。2003年，政府向建设银行和中国银行各注资225亿美元，帮助它们改善资产负债状况。两家银行还支付高薪聘请外国咨询公司及会计师事务所帮助它们提高公司治理水平，希望给潜在的外国投资者留下一个更好的印象。

评级机构标准普尔公司(Standard & Poor's)表示，如果张恩照离职的消息属实的话，有可能会给建设银行的上市计划带来负面影响，究竟有多大影响则要看建设银行与腐败丑闻是否直接有染。不过，这个事件应该不会影响到建设银行的财务面或其评级。香港《南华早报》(South China Morning Post)昨天报道了有关张恩照的消息。

张恩照在建设银行工作了41年，在1999年调任北京担任副行长之前一直在上海工作。在建设银行为上市进行的股份制改造过程中，他于去年失去了对日常运营的控制权，不再担任银行行长一职，但保留燎董事长的职务。

据一位香港知情人士透露说，张恩照目前被关在一家宾馆内。该人士称，张恩照的继任者最早可能于本周宣布，可能是中国央行的一位副行长。

张恩照的前任王雪冰于2003年下台，因先前在中国银行的贪污行为而被判入狱12年。

在另一起备受瞩目的案件中，中银香港总经理刘金宝在2003年因贪污行为而被解职，目前正在中国的监狱服刑。

中国银行业的丑闻事件可谓层出不穷：今年早些时候，中国银行哈尔滨河松街支行原负责人携人民币10亿元(合1.2亿美元)的巨款出逃。中国银行业管理人士力求在处理这些丑闻方面给人留下正面的印象。他们表示，对案情予以披露并迅速查处涉案人员的做法表明中国政府在打击困扰中国银行业长数十年之久的腐败行为方面是坚决果断的。

国泰君安证券(Guotai Junan Securities)金融行业研究员伍永刚认为，如果事实证明张恩照卷入贪污丑闻，就有可能在短期内令建设银行的声望受损，并在募股时影响到其发行价。但从长远来说，现在揭开丑闻等于是为上市之后消除了一个致命的隐患。

建设银行和中国银行推迟了在首次公开募股之前公布外国战略投资者一事表明，潜在的投资者正在和两家银行进行著激烈的讨价还价，这表明外资的风险意识有增无减。据知情人士透露，两家银行拟向战略投资者出售各自不到5%的股份，作价10亿美元，只有少数几家大型外资机构有财力参与认购。那些有意参股的机构正试图通过达成复杂的交易控制两家银行某些颇有赚头的业务，如信用卡业务等。

新桥资本(Newbridge Capital)的董事总经理单伟建表示，总的来说，中国银行业的管理水平正在迅速提升。但他补充说，道德风险依然是个大问题。新桥资本是深圳发展银行(Shenzhen Development Bank)的控股股东，是唯一一个能够控股中资银行的外国投资者。单伟建以业内人士的身份表示，中国银行业还面临著其他一些根深蒂固的问题，如银行内部监控机制不够完善，信贷机制亟待加强。在社会主义计划经济时代，中国的银行业完全是按照政府指令向国有企业放贷，而无须考虑商业价值。

两家均获汇丰控股(HSBC Holdings PLC)参股、规模相对小一些的银行──民生银行(China Minsheng Banking Corp)和交通银行(Bank of Communications)预计将在今年第二季度赴香港上市，但分析师认为张恩照事件不会影响到它们的上市日程甚至其股价。

Lex专栏：建行丑闻令中国金融改革受挫

The Lex

`l Zhang Enzhao's transgressions cost him his job as chairman of China Construction Bank. But the cost to the state-owned bank and its masters in Beijing will be greater. The stamp of corruption, going as it does to the very top, will take its toll on CCB's plans to tap the international capital markets for $5bn-$10bn this year. That may mean a delayed listing or a lower price. Either will be tough on the government, which has taken pains to prepare its “big four” lenders for listing helping to relieve them of bad loans and raiding its foreign exchange reserves to provide $120bn worth of recapitalisation funds.


Beijing has also sought to purge the banks of corrupt management. Mr Zhang became president following his predecessor's imprisonment. The fact that corruption thrived at a bank so high on the government's watch list makes it more worrying. Optimists will take heart from the fact that Mr Zhang was rumbled. Others will recall the precarious state of China's banking sector technically insolvent, with rapid credit growth mounting up fresh bad debts and conclude it is not yet worth investing in.

This would appear to be the view of the international banking community, which has balked at taking a strategic stake in any of the big four. The London Stock Exchange should take note too. CCB is flirting with a London listing rather than face the demands imposed by a New York flotation, complete with Sarbanes-Oxley. Caveat emptor and middleman.DrKWThere is no such thing as a free option. Allianz is refusing to make up its mind about whether it wants to keep, sell or spin off Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, its investment bank. The cost is a string of senior staff defections with Steve Berger, head of corporate finance, the latest to leave. But that does not mean the German insurer is acting irrationally.

DrKW has been shrunk to the point where it no longer affects the reputation or share price of Allianz. Cost cuts transformed pre-tax losses of more than �600m in 2002 into profits of �300m a year later, allowing it to cover the costs of a capital base pruned back from �5bn to around �2bn. Profits probably fell last year, but largely as a function of reduced risk taking.

At this point, therefore, there is a possible future for DrKW inside Allianz as a source of investment banking advice to Dresdner Bank's corporate clients. A more exciting alternative would be for Allianz to use DrKW as a bargaining chip in any restructuring of the European banking sector. Neither is easily compatible with spinning off DrKW to its employees, the solution favoured by the unit's bankers.

They have a point. In the absence of a clear (and lucrative) future, good people will continue to leave DrKW. For now, however, Allianz management clearly believes the value of keeping its options open outweighs the cost of a gradual degradation of DrKW's franchise. Shareholders must hope it is right.

Tyre manufacturersAre tyre-makers running out of road? France's Michelin and Japan's Bridgestone world number one and two, respectively reported blow-out profits growth in 2004. But they risk getting a puncture in 2005.

As with other manufacturers, surging commodity prices pose problems. Steel and derivatives of oil both at or close to multi-year highs account for about 60 per cent of raw material costs. These rose by 11 per cent at Michelin in 2004, with another 13 per cent increase expected this year. Michelin aims to keep profits stable. But Bridgestone is much less optimistic, predicting a 28 per cent drop in operating profit this year.

Tyre producers benefit from the fact that consumers must replace worn treads, generating four times as many aftermarket sales as those to car-makers. This gives them more leeway to raise prices relative to other auto parts producers. Michelin aims to increase prices by 5 per cent in the first half of 2005. However, realising the full benefit of that may be hard analysis suggests that last year's headline 8 per cent price rises lifted operating margins by just two percentage points or less. A contraction in margins in the first half of 2005 appears likely.

Both Michelin and Bridgestone have outperformed the global autos sector over the past 12 months, underpinned by faith in their pricing power. Such faith in these industry leaders should be rewarded over the longer term, but the immediate future promises a bumpy ride. AntofagastaIn all its 117 years, Antofagasta, the Chilean miner which has an expatriate home in the FTSE 100, has never had it so good. In the fourth quarter, cash costs at its main copper mine were actually negative, helped by soaring profits from a copper by-product called molybdenum. For 2004 overall, realised copper prices leapt by 66 per cent to 140 US cents per pound. Cash costs (which are net of by-product profits) fell by a third to 24 cents per pound. The result was a landslide: $940m of free cash flow after minority dividend payments. This was almost four times 2003 levels and is equal to 19 per cent of current equity value.

That bounty will be hard to repeat. Costs per pound, excluding by-product profits, crept up by a fifth, partly driven by lower ore grades. In 2005, the management expects further cost pressure, as well as flat production volumes. Cash flow is likely to decline due to higher capital spend and cash taxes, and, perhaps, Chile's proposed copper royalty levy.

The special dividend announced yesterday amounts to just 2 per cent of market capitalisation. Still, Antofagasta is a low-cost producer that, at nine times 2004 earnings, trades at a big discount to its diversified peers. The management is debt-wary, and disdains the “supercycle” view of commodity prices. All this makes Antofagasta relatively attractive. Yet it is sobering to remember that, were China's economy to wobble, and current copper and molybdenum prices to fall by a quarter, its profits would almost halve.
Lex专栏：建行丑闻令中国金融改革受挫

张恩照因违法行为失去中国建设银行(China Construction Bank)董事长一职。但这家国有银行及中国政府遭受的损失将更大。建行计划今年进入国际资本市场，上市筹资50亿至100亿美元，而直至最高层的腐败烙印将对这一计划造成冲击。这可能意味着推迟上市，或降低上市价格。无论出现哪种情况，都将使中央政府为难。政府一直在竭力筹划“四大”国有银行上市，帮助它们减轻坏账，并拿出国家的外汇储备，为银行提供1200亿美元资金用于资本重组。


中国政府也已试图整肃银行中腐败的管理层。张先生在前任行长入狱后出任建行行长。在政府监管名单中排位如此高的一家银行中，腐败居然盛行，这一事实令情况更令人担忧。乐观人士将因张先生腐败行为被揭露这一事实而振作。其他人将记起中国银行业不稳定的状态，即技术上已资不抵债，贷款飞速增长，从而不断积累新的坏账。他们将得出结论，这些银行还不值得投资。

这似乎也将是国际银行界的观点，它们不敢在四大国有银行的任何一家持有战略性股权。伦敦证券交易所(LSE)也应该注意。中国建设银行正考虑在伦敦上市，而不是面对纽约上市所要求的各种规定，其中包括萨班斯-奥克斯利(Sarbanes-Oxley)法。购买者和中间人须自慎。

Lex专栏是由FT评论家联合撰写的短评，对全球经济与商业进行精辟分析。

中国建行董事长离职 上市计划徒增变数

Chairman's exit leaves cloud over CCB listing

China Construction Bank, the country's second largest lender, was yesterday struggling to keep its $10bn Hong Kong listing on track after news that its chairman had left and was under investigation for alleged corruption.


The news of the investigation into Zhang Enzhao, CCB's chairman since 2002, is the most serious setback for Beijing's attempts to list the Big Four state-owned banks, a crucial part of its efforts to reform its financial system.

The scandal surrounding one of China's most senior banking executives is set to dent foreign investors' confidence in a sector saddled with billions of dollars in bad loans caused by years ofgovernment-directed lending.

People close to CCB revealed the bank had planned to apply to regulators for its overseas initial public offering the first by a Big Four institution by June.

However, they said the investigation into Mr Zhang believed to be part of a wider regulatory crackdown on alleged malpractices among senior financial sector executives could delay that timetable by several months.

“Unless they clear up the situation and appoint another chairman soon, the IPO could slip to September or even later,” a person close to the company said yesterday.

Foreign investors' concerns over internal controls and corporate governance at large Chinese banks could also affect CCB's valuation and prevent it from raising the $10bn it targeted.

The $3bn-$4bn listing of Bank of China, which had been vying with CCB to become the first large bank to list abroad, could also be affected by the scandal.

CCB and BoC received a $45bn cash injection from the government last year to help them reduce non-performing loans ahead of their IPOs.

However, another person close to the bank said CCB had made improvements to its risk management and lending practices and was close to being ready for an IPO.

“One guy does not make a bank. CCB has made a lot of progress over the last 12 months and could soon be in shape for a listing,” said one.

Mr Zhang, 59, is believed to be under shuang gui, a form of house arrest reserved for senior Communist party officials while they are under investigation, banking executives said yesterday. The party's own procedures usually precede the formal arrest and charging of senior officials.

The bank was not available for comment and the CCB website, which is used for company announcements, made no mention of the issue.

CCB's advisers on the IPO Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and the local securities firm China International Capital Corp declined to comment. The investigation into Mr Zhang follows an audit of the bank prior to its IPO and a notice from the banking regulator last month ordering the big state lenders to “be aware of irregular activities”.Lex, Page 14
中国建行董事长离职 上市计划徒增变数

中国建设银行(China Construction Bank)昨天努力保持其100亿美元香港上市计划不被打乱，此前有消息说，该行董事长已经离职，并正因涉嫌腐败而受到调查。建设银行是中国第二大银行。


中国政府一直在尝试让四大国有银行上市，将其作为金融体系改革的关键环节，而自2002年以来担任建行董事长的张恩照受到调查的消息，是政府在这方面遭受的最严重挫折。

张恩照是中国银行业最高级管理人员之一，与他有关的丑闻将削弱外国投资者对中国银行业的信心。由于多年的政府指令放贷行为，中国银行业目前已背负数十亿美元坏账。

知情人士透露，建行曾计划向监管部门提出申请，在6月前赴海外进行首次公开发行，在四大银行中率先完成海外上市。

但他们表示，中国政府扩大了对涉嫌渎职的金融企业高管的监管整顿范围，据信对张先生的调查是其中的一部分。这起调查可能使建行的上市进程推迟几个月。

“除非他们清理门户并任命新的董事长，否则建行的首次公开发行可能会迟至9月甚至更晚，”一位接近建行的人士昨天表示。

外国投资者对中国大型银行内部控制和公司治理的忧虑，也可能影响建行的估值，使后者无法完成100亿美元的融资目标。

中国银行(Bank of China)30亿至40亿美元的上市计划可能也会受到这起丑闻的影响。中行一直在与建行争夺首家海外上市银行的头衔。

去年，中国政府向建行和中行注入了450亿美元现金，以帮助它们在首次公开发行前降低不良贷款比率。

但另一位接近建行的人士表示，建行在风险管理和贷款操作上已有所改进，已接近完成为首次公开发行所作的准备。

“银行不是一个人撑起来的。建行在过去12个月里取得了大量进步，很快就能完成上市准备，”一位人士说。

银行业人士昨天说，59岁的张先生据信已被“双规”。“双规”是指软禁被调查的共产党高级官员。在正式逮捕和指控高级官员之前，通常会首先经过党内的一些程序。

中国银行业透明度仍有待提高

Chinese Bank Paradox Remains

China's second-largest lender broke its silence on the abrupt departure of its chairman, saying that Zhang Enzhao had resigned for "personal reasons" but making no mention of media reports he is under official investigation for possible corruption.

A terse statement posted yesterday on the Web site of China Construction Bank underscored a damaging paradox at the heart of China's banking system: While state-owned banks are being pushed to become more transparent and adopt modern management methods, top-level personnel decisions are still made in secret by the Chinese Communist Party, not by bank boards.

What's more, even though China's banking giants are being reorganized into shareholding companies, the government has no immediate plans to give up its ownership control and subject their top management to greater scrutiny and supervision by shareholders.

Banking analysts in Hong Kong said the politicized nature of personnel appointments gives rise to suspicions that when highfliers are targeted in corruption probes, the cases might be linked to power struggles within the Chinese leadership. Such suspicions are heightened by a widespread belief that bankers can fall from grace as much because of political missteps as criminal wrongdoing.

"If you target someone in a bank you can almost always find some problem in the past," said a Chinese banking analyst. "There's no way if you are a bank official you can keep yourself completely clean."

The brief Web statement gave no further details about Mr. Zhang's resignation. Officials at the bank's press office haven't been answering their telephones since Tuesday's media reports, even though China Construction Bank is in the final stages of preparation for an initial public offering of stock in Shanghai and Hong Kong that could seek to raise as much as US$10 billion. The Chinese bank is wooing the world's financial giants -- including the likes of Citibank and UBS -- in hopes they will buy stakes of as much as $1 billion and become "strategic partners" ahead of the public offering.

According to China Construction Bank 's statement, its board met yesterday and decided that its president, Chang Zhenming, will take on the duties of chairman until a successor is elected. Mr. Chang has been responsible for day-to-day operations as president.

Industry executives familiar with the situation said Mr. Zhang, 58 years old, is being held in a form of administrative detention in a Beijing guesthouse while being questioned. Mr. Zhang is a 41-year veteran of the bank and worked his way up through the ranks in its Shanghai branch.

Turmoil at the top of China's largest property lender could potentially delay the listing, which Mr. Zhang has said will occur this year, and might reduce the amount of money the share sale will raise because of an increased fear among investors of risk.

Yan Meizhi, a senior analyst at ratings agency Moody's, said she believed Chinese officials would be eager to keep the listing schedule on track. "The Chinese wouldn't want to delay it," Ms. Yan said. But she added: "They will also have to consider the impact on the investor side."

Because China's Big Four state-run commercial banks are the heart of the country's financial system -- more important by far as a source of funding than the puny stock market -- their top officials rank highly within the bureaucracy and are appointed by the Communist Party's Organization Department. The other three big lenders are Bank of China, which is also planning an overseas listing; Agricultural Bank of China; and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

When scandals surface, the banks often become as secretive as the Communist Party itself. After being sacked as head of the listed Hong Kong arm of the Bank of China in 2003, Liu Jinbao disappeared into detention in China and officials have yet to offer any details of the corruption charges they said they are preparing against him, leaving investors in the dark.

The irony is that Chinese banks are hiring Western management consultants to help them restructure into world-class institutions capable of meeting the threat posed by Western rivals when China's market opens fully to competition in 2007. At the headquarters of Bank of China, for instance, all staff are being required to reapply for their jobs as part of an effort to fill positions in a fair and transparent way, on the basis of talent and performance rather than length of service.

Cleaning up China's big banks is critical to the health of the country's economy, and the government is pouring money into the project. In late 2003, Beijing dipped into its vast foreign-exchange reserves to give Bank of China and China Construction Bank $22.5 billion each to reduce their bad loans. Earlier, the government lifted $170 billion of nonperforming loans off the books of the Big Four. Industrial and Commercial Bank is expected to shortly receive a government bailout of as much as $50 billion to shore up its balance sheet.
中国银行业透明度仍有待提高

中国第二大银行中国建设银行(China Construction Bank)在其董事长张恩照突然离职一事上打破沉默，称张恩照是由于“个人原因”而辞职的，但它未提及媒体报道所称他正在接受官方的反腐败调查一事。

建行网站上昨天发布的这则简短声明突出表明，在中国银行体系的核心环节上仍然存在著一个管理死结：虽然国有银行被要求增加透明度并采用现代管理方式，但银行的高层人事任免仍是由中国共产党内部决定的，银行董事会无缘置喙。

此事还说明，即使中国的那些银行业巨头被重组为股份公司，政府也无意立即放弃自己对这些银行的控制权，以加大股东对银行管理高层的监督。

香港的银行业分析师们说，人事任免的政治化难免使人怀疑，那些青云直上的人物成为反腐败调查的对象可能与中国领导层内部的权力斗争有关。加重这种怀疑情绪的是，人们普遍认为中国银行家们在政治上的失误也可以像刑事犯罪一样使他们从云端跌落。

中国的一位银行业分析师说，如果深入调查，中国的银行业管理人士过去或多或少都有问题，在这个位置上要想保持完全清白是不可能的。

中国建设银行在其网站上的简短声明中没有说明有关张恩照辞职的更多细节。虽然建行计划在上海和香港上市融资100亿美元的准备工作已进入最后阶段，但自从媒体周二报道张恩照可能辞职的消息后，该行新闻办公室的工作人员就不再接听外面打进来的电话了。建行一直在向花旗银行(Citibank)和瑞士银行(UBS)对全球性金融巨头作工作，希望它们在建行上市前投资10美元，并成为其“战略投资者”。

中国建设银行的声明称，该行董事会昨天开会后决定，在新的董事长选举产生前，由建行行长常振明代行董事长职权。常振明此前一直负责建行的日常经营。

据业内知情人士说，现年58岁的张恩照目前被拘禁在北京一家宾馆里交待问题。张恩照已在建行系统工作了41年，在到总行任职前，他在建行上海分行内部一步步升到了领导层。

建行是中国最大的房地产贷款发放机构。该行的高层人事变动有可能延缓该行的上市进程，而张恩照此前曾表示建行将在今年上市。建行股票上市募集的资金额可能也会减少，因为该行此次人事变动增加了投资者对风险的担忧。

评级机构穆迪(Moody's)的高级分析师严湄之相信，中国官方渴望建行的上市工作能按计划进行。她说，中国政府不愿意延误这一进程，不过政府也不得不考虑此事对投资者产生的影响。

由于中国的四大国有商业银行是中国金融体系的核心，其作为借贷资金来源的重要性远非中国规模有限的股市可比，因此其高层管理人士的行政级别很高，他们都是由中共组织部任命的。中国另外三家大型国有商业银行是中国银行(Bank of China)、中国农业银行(Agricultural Bank of China)和中国工商银行(Industrial and Commercial Bank of China)，其中中国银行也正计划在海外上市。

每当中国的银行业有丑闻出现，涉事银行都会三缄其口。中国银行香港上市子公司的负责人刘金宝在2003年被免职并遭拘禁后，他就从公众的视野里消失了，而中国官方至今未提供有关对刘金宝腐败指控的任何细节，这难免使投资者感到一头雾水。

具有讽刺意味的事，中国银行界正聘请西方的管理咨询公司帮助它们重组为世界级的金融机构，以应对2007年中国银行市场对外资全面开放后面临的来自西方竞争对手的挑战。以中国银行为例，为了在职位安排方面体现公平和透明，该行要求其总部的所有员工都需重新申请其职位，以便根据能力和业绩而不是工作年头来安排员工的职位。

整顿好中国这几家最大的银行对该国经济的健康发展至关重要，中国政府正在为这项工作投入大量资金。2003年末，中国政府动用其巨大的外汇储备向中国银行和中国建设银行分别注资225亿美元，以降低这两家银行的坏帐比率。在此之前中国政府还冲销了四大国有银行1,700亿美元的不良贷款。预计政府很快还将向中国工商银行注资500亿美元，以改善其资产负债状况。

Guo Shuqing takes over China Construction Bank

China has dispatched one of its most senior finance bureaucrats to take over China Construction Bank, the country's second-largest lender, just days after its chairman resigned under the cloud of corruption allegations. CCB announced last night that Guo Shuqing, a vice-governor of the central Bank in charge of China's foreign exchange regulatory body, had taken over as its party secretary.


Mr Guo, who was educated at Oxford and has a good command of English, may help CCB quickly re-establish much-needed credibility with foreign investors.

The announcement did not say if he would also become the CCB chairman, but as party secretary he becomes the most senior official in the bank.

Mr Guo replaces Zhang Enzhao, who was chairman and also party secretary.

CCB has been aiming to raise $5bn-$10bn in an international initial public offering later this year in what would be a landmark listing for a large mainland state bank.

The IPO, and another planned for the rival Bank of China, are central to Beijing's multi-pronged plan to reform the financial system, and its legacy of corruption and bad lending practices, by attracting foreign capital and management expertise.

Both CCB and BoC have received cash injections of $22.5bn to bolster their capital base in readiness for the listings.

CCB has been in discussion with Citigroup about the US lender taking a strategic stake in the bank before the planned IPO.

Despite previous promises to introduce greater transparency, neither the CCB nor the China Banking Regulatory Commission has said anything about the departure of Mr Zhang, other than to report that he had left the bank for “personal reasons”.


Mr Guo has been an outspoken advocate of maintaining the pressure on the commercial banks to reform and pointed out that scandals will inevitably erupt as their practices are cleaned up.

“The progress of reform has meant scandals are unable to hide anywhere,” he said last week on the sidelines of the National Peoples Congress, re-ferring to a case involving the Bank of China.

As head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Mr Guo has been at the centre of the government's efforts gradually to open China's closed capital account, in preparation for the introduction of a more flexible exchange rate policy.

SAFE has overseen a series of measures in recent months to allow more funds to flow out of the country, partly to balance the large speculative inflows betting on a revaluation of China's currency the renminbi.
郭树清入主中国建行

中国委派郭树清接管中国建设银行(CCB)。建行是中国第二大银行，就在数天前，其董事长因涉嫌腐败而辞职。


建行昨晚宣布，郭树清已接任该行党委书记。郭树清是央行副行长，主管中国的外汇监管机构，他是中国级别最高的金融官员之一。

郭先生就学于牛津大学(Oxford)，英语颇佳，他可能有助于建行在外国投资人中迅速重建受创的信誉。

建行的公告没有说他是否也将成为董事长，但作为党委书记，他已是该行级别最高的官员。

郭先生取代张恩照出任该职，后者是建行原董事长兼党委书记。

建行一直打算在今年稍晚时候在国际市场进行首次公开发行，筹资50亿至100亿美元。对于中国大陆的一家大型国有银行而言，这将是一次里程碑式的上市。

中国政府计划采取多种措施，通过吸引外国资本，吸收外国的管理技术，改革国家的金融体系，解决遗留的腐败问题和糟糕的贷款业务操作。对于政府的这一改革计划来说，建行的首次公开上市和竞争对手中国银行(Bank of China)计划中的上市是其关键。

建行和中行都已获得225亿美元现金注资，以改善各自的资本基础，为上市作好准备。

建行一直在与花旗集团(Citigroup)进行谈判，内容涉及这家美国银行在建行计划上市前持有该行战略股权事宜。

除了报告说张先生因“个人原因”离开银行外，建行和中国银监会没有就他的离职做过任何表态，尽管此前曾承诺要提高透明度。

郭先生一直直言不讳地主张，保持对商业银行施加改革压力，并指出，随着对银行业务操作的清理，丑闻会不可避免地暴露出来。

“随着改革的深入，这就意味着丑闻已无处躲藏，”他上周在全国人大会议间隙表示。他指的是涉及中国银行的一个案件。