【英语财经】欧洲顶级银行家担忧行业未来 Top European bankers warn of US threat to their future

The chairman of Barclays

has said European investment banks should consider merging to create a regional champion to compete with US rivals, highlighting the anxieties of senior bankers in Europe about their sector’s future.

“If you did want to create an investment banking champion for Europe you would have to combine the investment banking arms of the main players but you would have to swallow really hard and you would need political support,” John McFarlanetold the Financial Times.

Underlining the concerns, Frédéric Oudéa, chief executive of France’s Société Générale and president of the European Banking Federation, writes in today’s FT that a handful of “robust” US universal banks “are gaining market share abroad while strengthening their positions at home”.

European plans to introduce a financial transaction tax and structural reforms separating retail banks from investment banking activities would “limit the extent to which European banks can operate on the capital markets”, he writes.

“This is unwise — and unfair, since US banks with large investment banking activities based in London would effectively be exempt from the rules.”

The comments by two of Europe’s most senior bankers underline the growing angst in the industry about its performance and prospects.

巴克莱(Barclays)董事长称，欧洲投行应考虑通过合并缔造一家地区冠军，与美国对手展开竞争。此言凸显了欧洲资深银行家对其行业未来的焦虑。

“如果你真的要为欧洲打造一家投行业冠军，你就不得不把主要银行的投行业务部门联合起来，但你必须咽下自己的骄傲感，并且需要政治支持，”约翰?麦克法伦(John McFarlane)向英国《金融时报》表示。

呼应这一担忧的是，法国兴业银行(Société générale)首席执行官兼欧洲银行业联合会(European Banking Federation)主席菲德烈?乌戴尔(Frédéric Oudéa)在今日英国《金融时报》撰文称，少数“强劲的”美国全能银行“正在海外夺取市场份额，同时在国内巩固了地位”。

乌戴尔写道，欧洲计划推出金融交易税，并推行把零售银行业务和投行业务分开的结构性改革，这将“局限欧洲银行业可以在资本市场运作的程度”。

“这是不明智——且不公平的，因为落户伦敦、拥有大量投行业务的美国各银行实际上将豁免于这些规则。”

欧洲两位最资深银行家的评论，凸显了该行业对其表现及未来前景愈演愈烈的焦虑情绪。

译者/马柯斯