美國富國銀行的醜聞案)2)

Why Wells Scandal Matters so much?

為何美國富國銀行的醜聞案如此嚴重? (2)

編按：

美國最大商業銀行-Wells Fargo最近發生了驚天動地的醜聞案，由上層鼓勵下層員工揑造帳户，然後由銀行，編列應支費用，套利。是內場吃外塲? 套取FDR(聯邦儲備銀行) 補貼? 或內場吃內塲? 內部員工勾結吃總行? 此事2013年即爆出，迄今才在参院財務委員會，参議員Elizabeth Warren大聲痛責，Wells Fargo高層員工的『明知故犯』、『恬不知恥』。若負責行事高官- Carrie Tolstedt可能因此丟官，但仍可獲1億2仟萬美金的退休金，而最高執行長-CEO (John Stumpf) 則可得高達兩億美元……。這是什麽世界? 以前銀行舞弊案都發生在公家銀行，現在民營行庫(private sector) 也軋了一脚，而且還青出於藍，令人嘆為觀止。

在市場資本化(market capitalization) 上，2015年Wells Fargo全球第一，2016年全球第二，僅次於Chase，但在花旗(Citicorp) 之前。

It is easier to understand what Wells Fargo did as compared to what was going on during the financial crisis with synthetic collateralized debt obligations, credit default swaps, and the tri-party repo system. That is one reason why members of Congress and the press are likely to continue pounding on this issue. It also raises the logical question: who else was doing this? Every American may be wondering: are there accounts that were opened in my name that I don’t know about? If so, how can I find out? You can start by requesting your free credit report through a provision that Congress required in the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, but be prepared for a shock as it is estimated that 1 in every 4 Americans have incorrect information on their credit report (I found out about several other ‘Aaron Klein’s in mine).

與財務危機時候相比，較容易理解富國做了什麼事，當時有合成雙邊債務抵押債券、 信用違約交易，三方回購系統。這是國會議員和媒體可能會在這個問題上繼續窮追猛打的一個理由。它還提出了一個合乎邏輯問題︰ 還有誰這樣做？每個美國人可能會想知道︰ 有沒有用我名字開的帳戶而我不知道嗎？如果是這樣，我如何能發覺？你可以請求免費的信用報告，開始調查，透過國會要求的一條規定，2003 年通過的公平和準確的信用交易法 ，但得心理準備接受震驚的衝擊，因為據估計每 4 個美國人中，有一位信用調查，就有不正確的資訊報告 (例如我發現了有其他幾個與本人各字 亞倫 · 克萊恩相雷同者)。

This post-financial crisis scandal also raises the question, has anything really changed in banking and finance? One reason why it was important for financial regulation to be enacted into law after the financial crisis was to restore public trust and confidence in our markets. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 was designed to do just that and included new legal authority allowing financial regulators to ‘claw-back’ ill-gotten gains by executives. Yet the executive compensation rules implementing this authority have still not yet been finalized by the regulators, six years after the law was passed and more than five years after they were first proposed. Financial regulators could start by enforcing the law, finalizing those rules ASAP, and acting upon them aggressively. Criminal prosecutors also have a role to play in enforcing their legal authority, which is separate from the job of bank regulators. Enforcement of the full range of law is important as it relates to public trust.

這項金融危機後之醜聞也出現了一個問題，在銀行業和金融業中，有什麼確實改變了？在金融危機後，把金融監管規定制成法律，為什麼是重要的? 因其目的在恢復公眾的信任和對我們市場的信心。2010 年制訂的多德-弗蘭克華爾街改革和消費者保護法 ，即基於此而設計，包括新的法律權力，允許金融監管機構追回不利所得。但行政補償規定仍未最後定案使其完整。法律通過六年之後，被首次提出之後五年多。金融監管機構可以開始執法、並盡速將這些規定定案，和積極遵照規定行事。在執行其法律的權威時，刑事檢察官也有一個角色要扮演，該權威與銀行法制訂者之工作不同。全方位執法是重要的，因它與大眾信任相關。

But beyond government action, the industry needs to act to restore trust. The fact that Wells Fargo has fired over 5,000 junior employees — but not a single senior manager — will not sit well with the American public, nor should it. It is simply untenable that Wells Fargo told investors that it has “strong recoupment and claw-back policies” in place, yet they have not publicly announced a single dollar of claw back from the over $100 million that Carrie Tolstedt is poised to receive as part of her retirement (yes she is still a Wells Fargo employee, not fired and poised to retire with full benefits). The financial services industry needs to convince the American public with deeds, not words, that they should be trusted. Trust is at the core of the financial system. To truly move beyond the financial crisis, that trust must be restored.

   

但除了政府應採取的行動外，金融行業需要採取行動來恢復信任。美國的公眾对富國銀行解僱了5000 多名初級員工的事實 — 但未開除任一高級經理 絕不會罷休，也不應該坐視不管。富國告訴投資者們，它們設有"強的追償和追回政策"，是完全站不住腳的。但他們還沒有公開宣佈， 從嘉莉 Tolstedt(CEO的親信) 準備要退休的一億美元中追回一塊美元 （是的她仍然是富國銀行員工，未被解職，並準備退休時享受充分的福利）。金融產業需要用行動說服美國公眾，而非空言，來讓他們受信任。信任是金融體系的核心。要真正擺脫金融危機，必須恢復這種信任。

作者

Aaron  Klein

Justin  Lai 編譯

09/29/2016