Panic Ebbs in Russian Banking Sector
The sense of panic that gripped Russia's banking sector this past week appeared to ebb as the country's biggest privately owned bank weathered three days of withdrawals by nervous depositors.
Alfa Bank, Russia's fourth-biggest bank and a leader in the retail market, was one of the worst hit by the turmoil, paying out about $150 million -- or 10% of total household deposits -- as customers worried about the bank's stability rushed to retrieve savings.
Though the scenes of irate depositors crowding bank branches and pumping automated-teller machines for cash evoked memories of Russia's 1998 financial meltdown, the country's economy is far healthier than it was six years ago. With huge inflows of hard currency from oil and metals exports, the government has enough liquidity to quell any jitters in the system.
"There is no banking crisis," Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said. "What we see now is a reform process...and the fact that some banks cannot cope with that...should not affect the whole system."
But the minicrisis has refocused attention on the institutional weakness of Russia's banking system, which increasingly has become a bottleneck as Russia's economy rebounds. Many of the country's 1,300 banks are small and undercapitalized, and some do little more than launder money and channel cash offshore. As a result, Russian industry doesn't have access to the credit it needs to grow, according to officials.
Some bankers say the latest jitters could have a positive effect, strengthening the banking system by weeding out weaker players. "Tens if not hundreds of banks will die within the next several months," Alfa Bank President Pyotr Aven said.
The turmoil began in May, when regulators closed a bank accused of money laundering and another shut down after suffering a run. Mistrust provoked by fears of further closures froze interbank lending, causing a liquidity crunch made worse by runs on retail deposits. The panic reached a climax this past Monday when Guta Bank closed. Rumors swirled that Alfa would be next, spooking depositors.
But Alfa insisted its finances were sound and backed up the claims by putting extra cash in ATMs and extending branch hours to accommodate crowds seeking to withdraw their savings. Mr. Aven and other shareholders in Alfa Group -- some of Russia's richest men -- injected $800 million into the bank to support liquidity.
The central bank also stepped in, cutting bank-reserve requirements to make more money available and helping broker a bailout for Guta Bank.
By week's end, confidence seemed to be returning. Mr. Aven said in a conference call that withdrawals at Alfa had subsided from a peak of $60 million Wednesday to $35 million Friday.
Guta Bank, meanwhile, was finalizing a deal to be bought out by state-owned Vneshtorgbank and promised to begin paying depositors this week. The government rushed a law through Parliament Saturday guaranteeing private deposits in banks not covered by a new mandatory deposit-insurance program.
While not having much impact on foreign markets, the trouble Russia's banks have been experiencing is putting pressure on other Russian assets. The ruble last week hit its lowest level against the dollar in seven months, in part because bank customers have requested their money be returned to them in dollars.
The withdrawals are renewing pressure on the country's fledgling corporate-bond market, which underwent a painful selloff in May as global risk aversion intensified with expectations of rising U.S. interest rates. Many Russian private banks have invested a large portion of their assets in the corporate-debt market, sparking concern that these banks will have to sell bonds to meet continuing withdrawal requests.
The J.P. Morgan Russian corporate-bond index now yields 4.8 percentage points above U.S. Treasurys, up from 4.49 percentage points over U.S. Treasurys a week ago.
Craig Karmin in New York contributed to this article.
席卷俄罗斯银行业的恐慌有所消退
俄罗斯最大的私有银行终于经受住神经紧张的投资者连续三天疯狂挤兑的考验，至此，席卷俄罗斯银行业的恐慌情绪本周似乎有所消退。
作为俄罗斯第四大银行和消费市场佼佼者的Alfa Bank银行在此次挤兑风潮中遭受的打击最为严重，数日来共向储户支付存款1.5亿美元，占其全部个人存款总额的10%。对该银行财务状况稳定深感担忧的消费者纷纷前往这家银行提取存款。
尽管储户奔向银行和提款机疯狂提取现钞的一幕令人不禁回想起俄罗斯1998年金融危机的场景，但今天俄罗斯的经济状况与6年前相比要健康得多。
俄罗斯财政部长Alexei Kudrin表示，俄罗斯没有爆发银行业危机，目前所看到的不过是改革进程中的一幕，有一些银行无法应对目前的挑战，但这不会对整个银行系统造成影响。
尽管如此，这场小范围的危机还是使投资者重新将目光投向俄罗斯银行系统在组织机构方面所存在的弱点，这已越来越成为阻碍俄罗斯经济发展的瓶颈。目前俄罗斯全国共有银行1,300多家，其中大多数规模较小，且资本金不足，而其中一些除了从事洗钱和向海外转移资金之外几乎无所事事。据政府官员表示，这种情况使俄罗斯企业很难获得发展所急需的资金。
部分银行家认为近期的混乱对银行业来说未必不是件好事，因为可以通过优胜劣汰来进一步巩固和加强银行体系。
始于今年5月份的这场混乱最先是由于监管当局关闭一家被指控洗钱的银行引起的，随后另外一家银行由于发生挤兑也被迫关闭。而由于担心更多银行关闭会导致银行间贷款冻结所引发的不信任导致流动资金紧缺，而普通储户的疯狂提款则导致形势进一步恶化。由此带来的恐慌在上周一Guta银行被迫关闭后达到顶峰，而下一个该轮到Alfa的传言促使心惊胆战的储户涌向这家银行。
但该银行坚称其财务状况稳健，且通过增加自动提款机现金和延长分行工作时间来满足储户的提款要求。该行行长Pyotr Aven和其他股东（俄罗斯最富有的一些人）向银行注入现金8亿美元。俄罗斯中央银行也施以援手，一方面下调商业银行在央行的准备金率，使各银行手头有更为充裕的资金，与此同时还著手安排拯救Guta银行的计划。
截至上周末，公众对银行业的信心似乎有所恢复，Aven行长在电话会议中表示，储户提现总额从上周三最高峰时的6,000万美元降至上周五的3,500万美元。
而Guta银行同时也达成了被国有银行Vneshtorgbank收购的交易，并承诺将于本周开始向储户支付存款。
尽管这场风波没有给海外市场造成大的影响，但却对俄罗斯其他资产构成压力，卢布兑美元汇率上周跌至7个月低点，部分原因在于一些储户要求以美元支付在银行的存款。
