中國(guó)打擊保險(xiǎn)公司高杠桿收購(gòu)

Chinese regulators have intensified their crackdown on insurers’ use of high-risk, high-return products, which are often used to fund corporate deals.

中國(guó)監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)加大了對(duì)保險(xiǎn)公司利用高風(fēng)險(xiǎn)高回報(bào)產(chǎn)品的打擊，這些產(chǎn)品往往被用于企業(yè)交易。

The clampdown comes days after the country’s securities regulator separately denounced companies making highly leveraged takeovers as “barbarians” and “robbers”.

最新打擊措施出臺(tái)幾天前，中國(guó)證券監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)還譴責(zé)發(fā)起高杠桿收購(gòu)的公司是“野蠻人”和“強(qiáng)盜”。

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission on Tuesday said it had barred Foresea Life Insurance from issuing “universal insurance” products.

中國(guó)保險(xiǎn)監(jiān)督管理委員會(huì)(CIRC)周二表示，其已對(duì)前海人壽(Foresea Life Insurance)采取停止其開(kāi)展“萬(wàn)能險(xiǎn)”新業(yè)務(wù)的監(jiān)管措施。

Foresea is a unit of privately held insurance conglomerate Baoneng, which has been locked in a hostile takeover of property developer China Vanke for a year and has used the proceeds from sales of such products to finance its pursuit.

前海人壽是私有保險(xiǎn)集團(tuán)寶能(Baoneng)旗下的公司。寶能投入對(duì)房地產(chǎn)開(kāi)發(fā)商萬(wàn)科(China Vanke)的敵意收購(gòu)已有一年，并利用了此類(lèi)產(chǎn)品的銷(xiāo)售所得為這項(xiàng)努力提供資金。

The CIRC also said it had halted online sales of universal insurance products by six major insurers, including Evergrande, which is competing with Baoneng to take over Vanke.

中國(guó)保監(jiān)會(huì)還表示，已叫停6家大型保險(xiǎn)公司的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)渠道萬(wàn)能險(xiǎn)產(chǎn)品銷(xiāo)售，包括與寶能競(jìng)購(gòu)萬(wàn)科的恒大人壽(Evergrande)。

Regulators have become increasingly wary as Chinese insurers have made a series of highly leveraged acquisitions in recent years. Such concerns were believed to be part of the reason Anbang Insurance withdrew its $14bn bid for Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

隨著中國(guó)各保險(xiǎn)公司近年來(lái)進(jìn)行了一系列高杠桿收購(gòu)，監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)已變得越來(lái)越警惕。他們的擔(dān)憂被認(rèn)為是安邦保險(xiǎn)(Anbang Insurance)取消對(duì)喜達(dá)屋酒店及度假村(Starwood Hotels & Resorts) 140億美元收購(gòu)的部分原因。

“If you use funds from questionable sources to undertake highly leveraged buyouts, and turn from an [industry] stranger to a barbarian, and finally become a robber, this is not acceptable,” said Liu Shiyu, head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, in a weekend broadside.

中國(guó)證券監(jiān)督管理委員會(huì)(CSRC)主席劉士余周末發(fā)出猛烈抨擊，他說(shuō)：“你用來(lái)路不當(dāng)?shù)腻X(qián)從事杠桿收購(gòu)，行為上從門(mén)口的陌生人變成野蠻人，最后變成行業(yè)的強(qiáng)盜，這是不可以的。”

Earlier this year, the chair of the CIRC warned against insurers, awash with cash from universal insurance premiums, becoming “automatic teller machines” for takeovers.

今年早些時(shí)候，中國(guó)保監(jiān)會(huì)主席曾警告由于萬(wàn)能險(xiǎn)保費(fèi)收入而資金充裕的保險(xiǎn)商，不要成為收購(gòu)的“提款機(jī)”。

“Insurers use the premiums from universal insurance products to buy stocks, which they then use as collateral to buy more stocks, thus leveraging up and increasing their returns,” said Zhou Hao of Commerzbank. “It could create a vicious spiral if stock prices fall.”

“保險(xiǎn)公司利用萬(wàn)能險(xiǎn)產(chǎn)品的保費(fèi)來(lái)買(mǎi)入股票，然后將這些股票用作抵押品，買(mǎi)入更多股票，從而提升杠桿，提高他們的回報(bào)，”德國(guó)商業(yè)銀行(Commerzbank)的周昊表示，“如果股票價(jià)格下跌，就可能形成一個(gè)惡性循環(huán)。”

Universal insurance products combine an insurance component — a death benefit — with a high-return investment in a variety of assets including equities and shadow-banking loans. Foresea’s universal insurance products offered returns of between 4 and 8 per cent a year, making them attractive short-term investments for retail customers.

萬(wàn)能險(xiǎn)產(chǎn)品由一個(gè)保險(xiǎn)部分(身故保險(xiǎn)金)與一個(gè)高回報(bào)投資部分(包括股票和影子銀行貸款等各類(lèi)資產(chǎn))相結(jié)合組成。前海的萬(wàn)能險(xiǎn)產(chǎn)品提供每年4%至8%的回報(bào)率，使它們成為對(duì)零售客戶(hù)有吸引力的短期投資。

Analysts have expressed concerns about the financial risks inherent in this model, in which insurers rely on customers rolling over their short-term plans in order to stay solvent.

分析師們對(duì)這一模式固有的財(cái)務(wù)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)表示擔(dān)憂，因?yàn)楸ｋU(xiǎn)公司依賴(lài)客戶(hù)滾轉(zhuǎn)其短期計(jì)劃以保持償付能力。

“The aim of tightening regulation is to guide insurers back to making traditional conservative investments, as opposed to acting like aggressive asset managers," said Jonas Short, head of Beijing-based NSBO China, a policy research firm.

“收緊監(jiān)管的目的是指導(dǎo)保險(xiǎn)公司重拾傳統(tǒng)的保守型投資，而不是像激進(jìn)的資產(chǎn)管理公司那樣操作，”投資銀行藍(lán)橡資本(NSBO)北京負(fù)責(zé)人喬納斯•肖特(Jonas Short)表示。

The sale of universal insurance products surged this year, with as many sold in the first five months as in the whole of last year, according to data collected by FT Confidential Research. Premiums from these products made up over 80 per cent of the insurance industry’s total premium revenue in January through October, according to CIRC data collected by NSBO.

根據(jù)英國(guó)《金融時(shí)報(bào)》旗下研究服務(wù)部門(mén)“投資參考”(FT Confidential Research)收集的數(shù)據(jù)，今年萬(wàn)能險(xiǎn)產(chǎn)品銷(xiāo)售激增，前5個(gè)月就達(dá)到去年全年的銷(xiāo)售量。根據(jù)NSBO收集的中國(guó)保監(jiān)會(huì)數(shù)據(jù)，來(lái)自此類(lèi)產(chǎn)品的保費(fèi)收入占1至10月占保險(xiǎn)業(yè)總保費(fèi)收入的80%以上。

Foresea sold over Rmb70bn ($10bn) worth of universal insurance products in the year to October, making it the country’s fifth-largest seller of such plans.

今年截至10月，前海銷(xiāo)售了超過(guò)700億元人民幣(合100億美元)的萬(wàn)能險(xiǎn)產(chǎn)品，成為此類(lèi)產(chǎn)品的國(guó)內(nèi)第五大賣(mài)家。