【英语财经】中国收紧货币市场基金监管 China tightens money market regulation

Regulators in China are planning to impose tighter rules on the rapidly expanding money market fund industry — an industry that has transformed the way millions of Chinese invest their savings.

But there are serious doubts over whether the new rules, which are expected to be in place by February, will protect investors adequately.

Observers say more should be done to bring standards for China’s money funds in line with those in the US and Europe.

“The reforms are moving in the right direction, but we would also like to see further improvements in the industry’s ability [to manage] risk and more alignment with international best practice,” says Steve Lee, head of China and Taiwan for HSBC Global Asset Management.

China’s money market fund industry is only a decade old but its rise has been fast, driven by high retail demand for online funds managed by large domestic internet companies such as Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu.

Assets under management hit Rmb4.4tn (around $710bn) at the end of 2015, more than half of the Chinese fund industry’s total assets, according to HSBC.

Fitch, the rating agency, says the new regulations will strengthen industry practices, foster greater investor protection and lower risk.

But Charlotte Quiniou, a director at Fitch in Paris, adds a note of caution. She says: “The regulations still permit Chinese money funds more latitude in taking investment risk than European or US money funds.”

Although regulators have reduced the permissible leverage ratio of Chinese money market funds from 40 per cent to 20 per cent, leverage is not allowed in the US and is limited to 10 per cent in Europe, according to Ms Quiniou.

The liquidity requirements for assets held by Chinese money market funds are also less stringent than in the US or Europe.

The range of instruments that Chinese money funds can use has been broadened under the new rules, potentially exposing them to greater risks.

Investments in negotiable certificates of deposit, a tradeable security based on savings accounts at banks and other institutions, have been permitted for the first time. But there are questions over the suitability of these instruments for money funds.

“The [negotiable certificates of deposit] market is relatively new and the ability of managers to effectively trade these securities, notably during periods of stress, remains untested,” says Ms Quiniou.

The new rules also allow money funds to invest in lower-quality corporate bonds, with the minimum eligible rating level reduced to AA+ from AAA.

This has raised questions about the rigorousness of Chinese rating agencies when evaluating assets held by money funds.

“A triple A rating by a local rating agency is not the same as that issued by an international rating agency,” says Alex Wolf, emerging markets economist at Standard Life Investments, the UK fund house.

Although millions of ordinary Chinese have been drawn to money funds because they pay higher interest rates than bank deposits, Mr Wolf says many retail investors only look at the yields on offer and do not fully understand the risks.

“It is vital for China’s regulators to strengthen the risk controls [further],” he says.

The push for reform is being driven not only by the rapid growth of China’s money fund industry, but also because liquidity strains are evident.

In 2013, several Chinese money funds temporarily “broke the buck”, meaning they could no longer guarantee that investors would get $1 back for every $1 invested.

Observers worry that a repeat of such an event might disrupt the provision of short-term financing to China’s corporate sector, at a time when the country’s financial system is already showing signs of stress.

Robert Pozen, senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, says the real test will come when money funds start to make losses as a result of bond defaults.

“Until now the Chinese government has allowed only a small number of companies to default, but that is likely to rise in the future. That will be the test as to whether the bond ratings by China’s local rating agencies were any good,” he says.

Although the new rules should theoretically reduce yields and hamper demand for money funds, observers believe problems in China’s stock market mean investors are likely to view money funds as a safer place to put their money.

This is despite the fact that the yields on offer have already diminished, falling over the past two years to a range of between 1.8 and 6 per cent, partly due to rising competition between providers.

Alibaba’s Yu’e Bao, the biggest Chinese money market fund, now offers an annualised seven-day yield of 2.7 per cent, down from a peak of more than 6 per cent.

Mr Pozen says: “The volatility in Chinese equity markets could spur growth in the near-term as investors look for a safer home for their money.”

Mr Wolf agrees: “Any time there is a sell-off in the equity market, we see massive inflows into money funds.”

Stewart Aldcroft, Asia chief executive of CitiTrust, the securities and fund services arm of Citigroup, questions the notion that the money market reforms are a precursor to stricter rules for other parts of China’s asset management industry.

This is because policymakers’ main objective at present seems to be restricting capital outflows in the face of the renminbi’s rapid depreciation against the dollar.

“China’s regulators have many other concerns to focus on,” he says.

Yu’e Bao: Alibaba’s success story

Yu’e Bao, which translates as “leftover treasure”, has grown into China’s largest money market fund in under three years. It is also the world’s fastest growing mutual fund.

It was set up in June 2013 as a joint venture between Tianhong Asset Management and the world’s most popular destination for online shopping, Alibaba, the brainchild of Jack Ma.

Technology has played a vital role in the growth of Yu’e Bao. Millions of customers use Alibaba’s online and mobile payment app, Alipay, to convert the idle cash they have in their accounts into units of a money market fund.

Yu’e Bao currently has more than 260m users, an increase of 42 per cent over the past 12 months, and its assets stand at around Rmb620.7bn ($94.4bn). According to Alibaba’s blog, Alizila, the vast majority of Yu’e Bao users are under the age of 30.

One in seven Yu’e Bao customers are from rural China, where low-income families use the fund as a low-cost wealth management tool.

中国监管机构计划对快速扩大的货币市场基金行业实施更严厉的规则。该行业改变了大量中国民众投资其储蓄资金的方式。

但是，人们对2月生效的新规则能否为投资者提供充分保护产生严重质疑。

观察人士表示，中国当局应当采取更多措施，使国内的货币市场基金标准向美欧看齐。

“改革朝着正确的方向发展，但我们也希望看到，该行业（管理）风险的能力进一步提高，向国际最佳实践进一步靠拢，”汇丰全球资产管理(HSBC Global Asset Management)中国大陆和台湾地区主管李选进(Steve Lee)说。

中国的货币市场基金业只有10年历史，但其崛起十分迅速，其驱动力在于，阿里巴巴(Alibaba)、腾讯(Tencent)和百度(Baidu)等国内大型互联网企业管理的互联网货币市场基金受到了个人用户的热捧。

汇丰(HSBC)数据显示，2015年底，中国货币市场基金资产管理规模达到4.4万亿元人民币（约合7100亿美元），占基金行业总资产的逾50%。

评级公司惠誉(Fitch)表示，监管新规将规范行业做法、加大投资者保护力度并降低风险。

但是，惠誉驻巴黎的董事夏洛特?基尼乌(Charlotte Quiniou)发出警告的声音。她说：“中国监管规则允许货币市场基金承担投资风险的自由空间仍比欧美货币市场基金要大。”

基尼乌表示，尽管监管机构把允许的中国货币市场基金的杠杆率从40%降低到了20%，但美国不允许货币市场基金使用杠杆，而欧洲把杠杆率限定在10%。

中国货币市场基金所持有资产的流动性要求也没有欧美的要求严格。

监管新规将中国货币市场基金可使用的投资工具范围扩大了，可能令它们面临更大风险。

中国第一次允许货币市场基金投资可转让大额存单，这是一种基于银行和其他机构存款账户的可交易证券。但人们对这些工具是否适合货币市场基金心存疑问。

“（可转让大额存单）市场相对较新，基金经理们有效交易这些证券（尤其在压力期间）的能力仍未受到检验，”基尼乌表示。

监管新规还允许货币市场基金投资于质量更低的公司债，可投资债券最低评级由AAA降低到AA+。

这也对中国评级机构在对货币市场基金所持资产进行评估时是否严格引发了质疑。

“中国国内评级机构给予的AAA评级不同于国际评级机构给予的AAA评级，”英国资产管理公司标准人寿投资(Standard Life Investments)的新兴市场经济学家亚历克斯?沃尔夫(Alex Wolf)表示。

尽管大量中国普通民众被收益率高于银行存款利率的货币市场基金所吸引，但沃尔夫表示，许多散户投资者只关注收益率，并不完全了解个中风险。

“中国监管机构（进一步）加强风险控制是至关重要的，”他表示。

改革的动力不仅在于中国货币市场基金业的快速成长，也在于显而易见的流动性压力。

2013年，中国几款货币市场基金暂时“跌破了面值”，这意味着它们不能保证投资者每投资1美元都可以收回1美元。

观察人士担心，在中国金融体系已呈现压力迹象之际，此类事件若反复发生，或许会阻碍中国企业部门获得短期融资。

麻省理工学院(MIT)斯隆管理学院(Sloan School of Management)高级讲师罗伯特?波曾(Robert Pozen)表示，当债券违约导致货币市场基金开始亏损时，真正的考验就将到来。

“直到现在，中国政府只允许少量公司违约，但未来违约案例可能会增多。那将考验中国国内评级机构对债券的评级是否有效，”他说。

尽管新规在理论上应会降低货币市场基金的收益率，打击人们对它的热情，但观察人士认为，由于中国股票市场存在着种种问题，投资者可能把货币市场基金视为更安全的投资品种。

这还是在货币市场基金收益率已经下降的情况下。在过去两年里，部分由于基金公司之间竞争加剧，收益率已降到1.8%至6%的区间。

作为中国最大的货币市场基金，阿里巴巴的余额宝(Yu’e Bao)目前的7天年化收益率已从最高时的逾6%下降到2.7%。

波曾表示：“中国股市行情大起大落，这可能会在近期刺激货币市场基金的增长，因为投资者在为资金寻找更安全的投资对象。”

沃尔夫表示赞同：“每次股票市场发生抛售，我们都看到大量资金流入货币市场基金。”

花旗集团(Citigroup)旗下证券与基金服务机构CitiTrust的亚洲首席执行官斯图尔特?奥尔德克罗夫特(Stewart Aldcroft)质疑如下观点：货币市场改革预示着，中国将对资产管理行业的其他领域实行更严格的规则。

这是因为，面对人民币兑美元汇率的快速贬值，当前政策制定者的主要目标似乎是限制资本外流。

“中国监管机构还有许多其他要关注的问题，”他说。

余额宝：阿里巴巴的成功故事

不到三年，余额宝便成长为中国最大的货币市场基金，也是世界上增速最快的共同基金。

2013年6月，天弘基金(Tianhong Asset Management)和马云(Jack Ma)创建的世界最受欢迎的线上购物平台阿里巴巴合作推出了余额宝。

科技在余额宝的成长过程中起到了至关重要的作用。阿里巴巴的在线和移动支付应用支付宝(Alipay)拥有成百上千万用户，他们用自己账户里的闲置资金购买货币市场基金。

目前，余额宝的用户超过2.6亿，在过去一年里增加了42%，资产规模达到约6207亿元人民币（约合944亿美元）。根据阿里巴巴的博客Alizila，余额宝的绝大多数用户不到30岁。

七分之一的余额宝用户来自中国农村，那里的低收入家庭把余额宝用作低成本的理财工具。

译者/邢嵬