BANKS sicken slowly but die fast. For years Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca, in the prosperous Veneto, in north-east Italy, had been plagued by mismanagement. Even criminal investigations are under way. For months the Italian government had been wrangling with European authorities over the terms of a bail-out. For weeks it had seemed improbable that private investors would put in money alongside the state, as the European Commission insisted.
銀行的病症發展緩慢卻易“暴死”。 多年來， 在義大利東南部繁華的威尼托大區的維琴察大眾銀行（Banca Popolare di Vicenza）和威尼托銀行（Veneto Banca）因管理不善而陷入重重危機，
On June 23rd the European Central Bank (ECB) declared that the banks were “failing or likely to fail”. Two days later, after a frantic weekend, the Italian government pronounced them dead: their good assets were sold to Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s second-biggest lender, for a token €1 ($1.14), and their dud ones put into a “bad bank”. The operation may cost Italian taxpayers €17bn. This is the second call on Italy’s public purse this month. On June 1st the commission approved, in principle, the rescue of long-troubled Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the fourth-biggest bank, which is expected to cost the state €6.6bn.
6月23日， 歐洲中央銀行（ECB）宣佈了這兩家銀行“破產或即將破產”。 兩天后， 經過手忙腳亂的週末之後， 義大利政府宣佈這兩家銀行破產：它們的優質資產以一歐元的價格出售給義大利第二大貸款銀行聯合聖保羅銀行（Intesa Sanpaolo）， 它們的無用資產轉入“壞賬銀行”。 這一操作可能花費納稅人170億歐元。 這是義大利國庫在六月第二次打開錢袋子。 6月1日， 歐洲委員會原則上批准了對長期受困的歐洲第四大銀行錫耶納銀行（Monte dei Paschi di Siena）的援助， 預計將耗費義大利66億歐元。
The Veneto banks’ clients breathed a sigh of relief when branches opened on June 26th. So did the stockmarket: bank shares rose. So did holders of the lenders’ senior bonds, which will be taken on by Intesa. In early June they had traded at below 74 cents on the euro. They jumped to above par (see chart).
威尼托銀行分行在6月26日開業時， 該銀行的客戶松了一口氣；股市也松了一口氣：銀行股上漲。 持有這些貸款銀行的高級債券的人也松了一口氣， 因為這些債券將由義大利聯合銀行來承擔。 在六月初， 這些債券的交易價格還低於的7.4歐， 現已超過票面價值。
Yet the bail-out has sown confusion—and consternation—about the euro zone’s new, and scarcely tested, system of treating failing banks. After the ECB’s declaration, responsibility passed to the Single Resolution Board (SRB), a separate agency set up by the commission.
然而， 此次緊急救助行動引起了人們對此次歐元區全新的， 未經測試的處理破產銀行制度的極大困惑和驚恐。 歐央行宣佈推出這個制度之後， 責任便傳給了歐盟委員會設立的獨立機構單一處置委員會（SRB）。
Only one other such case has reached the SRB. On June 6th the ECB deemed Banco Popular, Spain’s sixth-biggest bank, to be in its death throes. The SRB put Popular into “resolution”—the European procedure for winding up banks—and overnight it was sold to Santander, Spain’s biggest lender, also for €1. Under rules that came into force in January 2016, equity, bonds (both senior and junior) and deposits over €100,000 must take losses, to the value of 8% of total liabilities, before public money is injected into a bank. Shareholders and junior bondholders were wiped out, but senior creditors were spared. Taxpayers did not pay a cent; Santander will raise €7bn in equity.
只有其它類似的案子才能提交單一處置委員會。 6月6日， 歐央行認定西班牙第六大銀行大眾銀行即將破產。 單一處置委員會將大眾銀行列入“處理名單”——歐洲清算銀行的程式，
The SRB dealt with the Italian pair differently. It judged that it was “not warranted in the public interest” to put them into resolution. Their demise would not have a “significant adverse impact on financial stability”, because of their limited interconnections with other banks. (At the end of 2016 they were Italy’s 10th- and 11th-biggest by assets.) The SRB instead decided that they should be dealt with under Italian insolvency law. Shareholders and holders of junior debt will suffer losses, though retail investors, who own €200m in junior bonds, will be compensated for “mis-selling”; Italian banks routinely sold such bonds to retail customers. Senior creditors were untouched.
單一處置委員會對義大利銀行的處理方式有所不同。 它認為將這兩家銀行列為處置狀態是“不能保證公眾利益”的。 他們的破產並不會“對金融穩定性造成不利影響”， 因為他們與其它銀行的合作有限。 （2016年年底， 他們的資產在義大利只排在第十至十一位。 ）相反， 單一處置委員會決定用根據義大利清算法來解決它們的問題。
Although the board saw no risk to stability, the government perceived a danger to the Veneto’s economy. Intesa will be paid €3.5bn to offset the effect of the extra assets on its capital ratios. It will also get €1.3bn to cover integration costs, including the closure of around 600 branches. Its market share in the region will rise to 30%. Mediobanca, an investment bank, estimates the acquisitions will yield profits of €250m by 2020. The government is also putting up €12bn in guarantees against potential losses, although it expects to spend only a small fraction of that; and some of the banks’ senior debt was state-guaranteed, so it may have saved money there. The commission’s competition arm approved the aid.
雖然董事會認為不存在穩定性風險問題， 義大利政府卻認為這會威脅威尼托的經濟。 義大利聯合銀行將獲得35億歐元， 用以抵消因額外資產對其資本比率上造成的影響。 它將獲得130億歐元的資金用於整合業務， 其中包括關閉近600家分支機搆。 該銀行在當地的市場份額將上升至30%。 投資銀行Mediobanca預計， 截至2020年， 此次兼併將實現2.5億歐元利潤。 義大利政府撥款120億歐元以防止出現潛虧， 不過預計這筆資金的支出會不多；該銀行的部分高級債務由國家提供擔保，
Using national insolvency will also suit Italy’s banks as a whole. Resolution would have cost them €12.5bn under the country’s deposit-guarantee scheme, putting an unwelcome dent in their capital ratios. The deal also frees money in Atlante, a fund backed by Italian financial institutions, which had been earmarked for buying the Veneto banks’ bad loans. It may now be spent on Monte dei Paschi’s.
Critics—most vocally, some German MEPs—lament the splurge of public money: Europe’s new rules, after all, are supposed to discourage that. They argue that the bail-out has put paid to Europe’s proposed “banking union”, in which one set of rules should apply to all. That is overblown, says Nicolas Véron of Bruegel, a Brussels think-tank, and the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC. Banking union is incomplete: this episode serves as a reminder. “The single resolution mechanism is not really single as long as you have different insolvency regimes for banks,” says Mr Véron.
一些批評人士——一些德國的歐盟議員以口頭方式表達——痛惜這是對大眾錢財的揮霍：歐洲的新法是應該阻止這種行為。 他們認為這種緊急救助行為對歐洲提議的“銀行聯盟”付出了代價， 因為這個概念對歐洲所有銀行制訂了監管規定。 布魯塞爾智庫布魯蓋爾（Bruegel）及美國華盛頓特區的彼得森國際經濟研究所的尼古拉斯·貝隆（Nicolas Véron） 稱， 這言過其實。 這個事正好提醒了人們：銀行聯盟不是無懈可擊的。 貝隆說道：“如果銀行有不同的無力償還體制， 單一處置機制就不會真正的單一機制。 ”
Moreover, given the wretched state of the Veneto banks, their acquirer could demand a dowry; Santander was willing to raise money to absorb an essentially sound Popular. Arguably, Italy should have sorted out its mess sooner, before Europe’s stricter bail-out rules came into force; but it has spent a pittance compared with what other countries shelled out after the financial crisis.
此外，鑒於威尼托銀行的悲慘境地，收購方可以要求一個附加物；桑坦德銀行曾願意集資來收購大名鼎鼎的大眾銀行。仍具爭議的是，在歐洲嚴格的緊急救助生效之前，義大利本可以迅速地進行一番整頓；但對比其他國家的所作所為，義大利政府在經濟危機發生之後的作為仍是聊聊。
Italy’s pile of non-performing loans is at last shrinking. But worries linger—notably about Carige, a Genoese bank. While the economy continues to crawl, many lenders will struggle for profit. Although consolidation is taking place, Italy’s bank branches still outnumber its pizzerias; despite recent reform, recovery of bad debts is still slow. Bail-outs are forgivable—if they mean a fresh start. Time for Italy, if it can, to prove the doubters wrong.
義大利堆積的不良貸款最終開始減少，不過，擔憂仍然存在，尤其是對熱那亞的銀行Carige。在經濟持續恢復的同時，貸款銀行將為實現利潤而努力。雖然清算行動正在進行，義大利的各家銀行的分支機搆依舊多於比披薩店的數量；雖然最近有所改革，壞賬的恢復也仍舊很緩慢。緊急援助行動是可以理解的——如果這意味著銀行業的新開始。時間能讓義大利證明——如果它可以的話——懷疑者們是錯的。
編譯：張冕
審校：張楚燕
編輯：翻吧君
”Moreover, given the wretched state of the Veneto banks, their acquirer could demand a dowry; Santander was willing to raise money to absorb an essentially sound Popular. Arguably, Italy should have sorted out its mess sooner, before Europe’s stricter bail-out rules came into force; but it has spent a pittance compared with what other countries shelled out after the financial crisis.
此外，鑒於威尼托銀行的悲慘境地，收購方可以要求一個附加物；桑坦德銀行曾願意集資來收購大名鼎鼎的大眾銀行。仍具爭議的是，在歐洲嚴格的緊急救助生效之前，義大利本可以迅速地進行一番整頓；但對比其他國家的所作所為，義大利政府在經濟危機發生之後的作為仍是聊聊。
Italy’s pile of non-performing loans is at last shrinking. But worries linger—notably about Carige, a Genoese bank. While the economy continues to crawl, many lenders will struggle for profit. Although consolidation is taking place, Italy’s bank branches still outnumber its pizzerias; despite recent reform, recovery of bad debts is still slow. Bail-outs are forgivable—if they mean a fresh start. Time for Italy, if it can, to prove the doubters wrong.
義大利堆積的不良貸款最終開始減少，不過，擔憂仍然存在，尤其是對熱那亞的銀行Carige。在經濟持續恢復的同時，貸款銀行將為實現利潤而努力。雖然清算行動正在進行，義大利的各家銀行的分支機搆依舊多於比披薩店的數量；雖然最近有所改革，壞賬的恢復也仍舊很緩慢。緊急援助行動是可以理解的——如果這意味著銀行業的新開始。時間能讓義大利證明——如果它可以的話——懷疑者們是錯的。
編譯：張冕
審校：張楚燕
編輯：翻吧君