滬港通 醞釀交易規則升級

The Hong Kong stock exchange will roll out an upgrade to its equity trading link into China in the next few weeks, something analysts hope will encourage global asset managers to start using the facility.

香港交易所(HKEx)將在未來幾周出臺新的“滬港通”股票交易規則，分析師希望這一舉措將鼓勵國際資產管理公司開始使用這一機制。

The Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, which launched in November, has been hailed as a landmark opening of domestic Chinese markets, enabling international investors to trade onshore equities without a special licence for the first time.

去年11月開通的“滬港通”，被譽爲開放中國內地股市的里程碑式舉動，使得國際投資者首次無需特殊牌照就能夠交易中國內地股票。

However, because of operational problems with the scheme, many large fund managers have stayed on the sidelines, relying instead on the long-established quota system for accessing the Chinese market. Activity through the Stock Connect has been lacklustre , with only banks and hedge funds taking part.

然而，因爲該機制操作方法上的問題，許多大型基金管理公司一直還在觀望之中，眼下它們仍然依賴存在已久的配額制度來投資中國市場。“滬港通”下的交易一直不夠活躍，參與者主要是銀行和對衝基金。

The main problems centre on the ownership of securities and the settlement of trades. Investors must transfer shares they wish to sell to their custodian bank or broker before the start of the trading day so that the stock exchange can verify that the seller owns the asset.

主要問題在於證券所有權和交易結算方式。投資者必須在交易日開始之前，將想要出售的股票轉移至託管銀行或券商，以便交易所證實這些股票確實爲出售者所有。

This gives the custodian temporary legal ownership of the security, increasing counterparty risk for the seller should a custodian unexpectedly runs into trouble. Since the financial crisis, investors have become more cautious about counterparty risk, even if just for a few hours during the execution of a trade.

這讓託管人對這些證券擁有臨時法定所有權，萬一託管人意外出現問題，這就增加了賣方的交易對手風險。自金融危機以來，投資者對交易對手風險越來越小心，即便只不過是交易執行過程中的幾個小時。

Trade settlement is also an issue. Currently, buyers take hold of securities on the day of a trade but sellers must wait another day to receive the cash. Once again investors, when selling shares, are left exposed to the possibility of counterparty failure.

交易結算方式也是個問題。目前，證券在交易當天就能到買方手上，但賣方必須再等一天才能收到錢。這再次讓投資者在出售股票時面臨交易對手風險。

Market participants hope that a forthcoming operational change — announced in January and now being tested — will help fix both issues, paving the way for the world’s largest fund managers to embrace the scheme.

改變“滬港通”操作方式的消息宣佈於1月，眼下正在測試當中。市場參與者希望，即將出現的變化會有助於解決上述兩個問題，爲全球最大的一些基金管理公司接納這個機制鋪平道路。

The main change will allow investors to keep their shares but will enable the stock exchange to peer into their accounts to confirm their holdings. That, in turn, will make it possible for most brokers to offer a synthetic early settlement of trades, in effect fronting the cash to sellers a day before receiving it from the buyer.

主要的變化將是，允許投資者保留股票，但讓交易所能夠查看他們的賬戶以確定他們的持股情況。這又將進一步使多數券商能夠提供提前的合成交易結算，實質上是在從買家收到現金的前一天就把錢支付給賣家。

For now, this synthetic settlement is available only through the handful of investment banks that have both custodian and equity-trading businesses.

目前，這種合成結算方式只有通過少數既有託管也有股票交易業務的投行才能進行。

“It doesn’t solve all the issues,” said Stephane Loiseau, head of Asian cash equities at Société Générale. “But everyone is quite bullish that this second version will help, especially for those [institutional] funds who’ve been effectively barred up to now.”

“這無法解決所有問題，”法國興業銀行(Société Générale)的亞洲現金股票負責人斯特凡納•盧瓦索(Stephane Loiseau)稱，“但是所有人都相當看好‘滬港通2.0’將對投資者有所幫助，特別是對那些迄今實際上一直被禁入的（機構）基金。”

Challenges for asset managers are likely to remain. Many have mandates that prevent them from investing into the Chinese mainland, so they must redraft these rules before they can start buying through Stock Connect.

資產管理公司面臨的挑戰很可能會繼續存在。很多資產管理公司的業務授權使他們無法在中國內地投資，因此他們必須先修改這些授權規則，才能開始通過“滬港通”購買股票。

A shortage of English-language research on Shanghai-listed stocks is another problem, while legal questions remain over certain shareholder rights, such as being able to sue a mainland Chinese company.

另一個問題是，缺少對上海上市股票的英文調查分析，同時某些股東權利仍然存在法律問題，比如有關能否起訴中國內地公司的問題。

The Hong Kong exchange plans to open a second link into the Shenzhen stock exchange this year, and hopes to add other asset classes — such as equity derivatives and fixed income — later on.

香港交易所計劃在今年開啓第二個互聯互通機制——將之與深圳證券交易所相連的“深港通”，並且希望在晚些時候加入其它資產類別——比如股票衍生工具及固定收益產品。