國信證券否認債券違約 Guosen Securities denies bond default
A unit of Guosen Securities, China’s eighth-largest investment bank said on Thursday it had not neared default on its offshore debt after uncertainty over payments raised questions over so-called “keepwell” deals, or promises by mainland groups to support the borrowing of their offshore units.
週四，中國第八大券商國信證券(Guosen Securities)的一個下屬部門表示，其在離岸債券上並未接近違約，此前償付不確定性使得所謂“維好”協議——內地母公司做出的支持其離岸分支機構債務的承諾——引發了質疑。
The bonds’ trustee, Bank of New York Mellon, said late on Thursday it had received a clarification notice from Guosen that sought to “correct statements set out in earlier communications”. The notice in effect amended an early note from BNY Mellon that warned bondholders of an “event of default”.
週四晚，該債券的受託方紐約梅隆銀行(BNY Mellon)表示，已收到國信證券方面的一份澄清公告，尋求“對更早溝通時的聲明做出更正”。該公告實際上修改了一份更早的紐約梅隆銀行公告——警告債券持有人，即將發生一起“違約事件”。
While no payments had yet been missed, the technical phrase sparked worries over keepwell agreements, used by mainland groups to support the borrowings of their offshore entities in dollars as well as renminbi, before rule changes in 2014 allowed them to issue legal guarantees.
儘管迄今沒有錯過任何償付，但這種技術性措辭使得維好協議引發了擔憂。在2014年規則改變、允許它們作出法律擔保以前，中國內地集團使用維好協議對其離岸實體的美元和人民幣債務提供支持。
Guosen said on Thursday in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange, where the bond trades, that it was “confident that it will be able to fully comply with its payment obligations in respect of the Bonds”.
週四，國信證券在上述債券交易地點港交所(HKEx)發表聲明稱，其“確信自己將有能力完全履行與債券相關的償付義務”。
The earlier notice from BNY Mellon had cast doubt on whether the securities company would meet a Rmb38m ($5.9m) coupon payment due on April 24 on its Rmb1.2bn in so-called “dim sum” bonds — renminbi debt sold outside the mainland.
紐約梅隆銀行更早發佈的公告，使國信證券能否支付4月24日到期的12億元人民幣“點心”債券的3800萬元人民幣（合590萬美元）票息引發了疑問。點心債是在中國大陸境外發行的人民幣債券。
Credit specialists in Hong Kong said earlier on Thursday that the first BNY Mellon notice appeared to be technical in nature, relating to approvals needed for Guosen’s mainland unit to transfer funds to its Hong Kong unit.
週四早些時候，香港的信貸專家表示，紐約梅隆銀行的第一份公告似乎是技術性的，與國信證券的內地公司需要獲得把資金轉移到其香港分支機構的批准有關。
“Our base case is this technical issue will be solved. But going forward, capital control might be a risk investors should consider in assessing the keepwell structure,” said Manjesh Verma, head of credit sector specialists at Citigroup in Hong Kong. “It is an issue not only for the dim sum market, but for the broader China offshore bond markets given that there are a number of bonds in dollar and dim sum space which have this keepwell structure and this structure has not been tested yet.”
“我們的基本預測是，這一技術性問題將得到解決。但在下一階段，資本管制或許是投資者在評估維好協議時應該考慮的一個風險，”花旗集團(Citigroup)駐香港的信貸部門專家主管曼傑什•維爾馬(Manjesh Verma)說。“這不但是點心債市場的問題，也是整個中國離岸債券市場的問題，因爲大量的美元債和點心債存在維好協議，而這種架構尚未經受過考驗。”
In mid-afternoon trading in Hong Kong, the bond’s yield, which moves inversely to price, rose to 7.12 per cent from 6.4 per cent.
在香港交易日的下午中段，該債券的收益率（與價格變動方向相反）從6.4%上升至7.12%。
Chinese companies have used keepwells in offshore bond sales as a way to provide a degree of security to foreign investors. Until mid-2014, China’s foreign exchange regulator forbade onshore companies from issuing direct guarantees of offshore debt.
中國企業一直在離岸債券銷售中使用維好協議，由此爲境外投資者提供一定程度的安全保證。在2014年年中之前，中國外匯監管機構禁止境內企業爲離岸債務提供直接擔保。
Most Chinese offshore bonds are issued through tax-haven-domiciled SPVs, leaving investors with little recourse to onshore assets. BNY’s March 23 notice said that the event of default was caused by a violation of the keepwell deed, without providing details.
中國企業發行的大多數離岸債券是通過設在避稅天堂的特殊目的公司(SPV)發行的，導致投資者對發行企業的境內資產幾乎沒有追索權。紐約梅隆銀行在3月23日發佈的公告稱，這次違約事件是由於違反維好協議而引發的，但沒有提供細節情況。
The dim sum bond market emerged around 2010 as China moved to encourage international use of its currency. With renminbi accumulating in Hong Kong and other offshore financial hubs, Chinese and foreign issuers took advantage of interest rates typically lower than those available in China’s onshore debt market. Last year, offshore renminbi bond issuance slumped to $17bn after hitting a record $33bn in 2014, according to Dealogic. Some $64bn in such bonds is currently outstanding.
點心債市場是在2010年左右中國着手鼓勵國際社會使用人民幣的背景下出現的。在人民幣彙集到香港及其他離岸金融中心之際，中外發行人利用了通常低於中國境內債市的利率。根據Dealogic的數據，在2014年達到創紀錄的330億美元的發行規模之後，去年境外人民幣債券的發行規模下滑至170億美元。目前還未結清的此類債券還有大約640億美元。
