Too Much Bark, Not Enough Bite

美国联邦储备委员会(Federal Reserve)主席贝南克(Ben Bernanke)意识到，光靠空投数十亿美元不能解决任何问题。他上周五表示，要解决金融系统问题还必须进行深入改革。我们欢迎任何举措。但贝南克的处方似乎过于温和了。拿金融机构过于庞大以致于无法任其崩溃的问题来说。美国政府之所以出手拯救贝尔斯登(Bear Stearns)和美国国际集团(AIG)等公司，是因为政府相信这些公司倒闭会危害到整个金融体系。贝南克建议采取五项改革举措：加强监管；改进薪酬激励体系，避免公司高管过度冒险；对非银行金融机构实施监管；巩固市场结构，使得一家公司的问题无法蔓延；制定程序，允许非银行金融机构的有序破产。值得注意的是：贝南克没有明确提到要采取任何措施，阻止金融公司变得过于庞大。鉴于近期的行业整合，限制金融公司的规模变得迫在眉睫。根据SNL Financial的数据，美国五大放贷机构目前的资产规模占前50大银行总规模的70%。监管部门现在可能需要实力较雄厚的银行接手较弱银行，但如果有关部门未来要求实施分拆的话，银行界人士也不应感到意外。贝南克颇有见地强调了由于金融机构被认为太大以致于不会破产，债权人是如何廉价向银行提供贷款的。但令人失望的是，他没有说到要采取何种措施，才能让银行债权人更多地受制于市场规则。去年8月，贝南克还提出了可能会要求破产金融机构的债权人减少前者债务，但这次他却只字不提。或许目前市场实在信心脆弱，无法采取这一措施；但如果要进行真正的改革，就必须迈出这一步。Peter Eavis相关阅读贝南克：可能有必要修改资本和会计准则 2009-03-21贝南克寻求金融体系长治久安之道 2009-03-11美国联邦储备委员会主席贝南克敦促采取措施规避未来危机 2009-03-10贝南克：如果银行稳定，经济衰退将于2009年晚些时候结束 2009-03-10贝南克：可利用现有工具解决银行业问题 2009-02-26 本文涉及股票或公司document.write (truthmeter('2009年03月23日11:56', 'CRM'));Salesforce.com Inc.总部地点：美国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：CRMdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年03月23日11:56', 'AU'));AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (ADS)总部地点：南非(South Africa)上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：AUdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年03月23日11:56', 'DELL'));戴尔公司英文名称：Dell Inc.总部地点：美国上市地点：纳斯达克股票代码：DELLdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年03月23日11:56', 'RIMM'));Research in Motion Ltd.总部地点：加拿大(Canada)上市地点：纳斯达克股票代码：RIMMdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年03月23日11:56', 'AAPL'));苹果公司英文名称：Apple Inc.总部地点：美国上市地点：纳斯达克股票代码：AAPLdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年03月23日11:56', 'PALM'));Palm Inc.总部地点：美国上市地点：纳斯达克股票代码：PALMdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年03月23日11:56', 'MSFT'));Microsoft Corp.总部地点：美国上市地点：纳斯达克股票代码：MSFTdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年03月23日11:56', 'ORCL'));甲骨文公司英文名称：Oracle Corp.总部地点：美国上市地点：纳斯达克股票代码：ORCLdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年03月23日11:56', 'ANG.JO'));Anglogold Ashanti Ltd.总部地点：南非(South Africa)上市地点：约翰内斯堡股票代码：ANGJdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年03月23日11:56', 'RIM.T'));Research In Motion Ltd.总部地点：加拿大(Canada)上市地点：多伦多股票代码：RIM


Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke realizes he can't solve everything by dropping billions of dollars out of his helicopter. Deep reforms also are needed to fix the system, he said in a speech Friday.Any moves are welcome. But Mr. Bernanke's prescriptions look too timid.Take the too-big-to-fail problem. Firms like Bear Stearns Cos. and American International Group Inc. were rescued because authorities believed their failure would imperil the financial system. Mr. Bernanke suggests five measures: better regulation, better compensation incentives to avoid excessive risk-taking, regulation of nonbank financial firms, strengthening market structures so one firm's problems don't spill over, and procedures allowing for the orderly wind down of nonbank financial firms.Conspicuously absent: Any explicit measure to stop financial firms getting too big. The need for size limits is pressing, due to recent consolidation. The top-five lenders in the U.S. now account for 70% of the assets at the top-50 banks, based on SNL Financial data. Regulators may need stronger banks to take over weak ones right now, but bankers shouldn't be surprised if authorities demand break-ups in the future.Mr. Bernanke wisely highlighted how creditors underpriced lending to banks because institutions were considered too big to fail. Disappointingly, he suggested no measures to exert more market discipline on bank creditors. Last August, Mr. Bernanke held out the possibility of haircutting creditors of failing financial firms, this time he didn't. Confidence may be too fragile to do that today, but any true reforms would have to include it.Peter Eavis