双层股权架构为新加坡赢得先机

When Singapore Inc throws its weight behind something, the effect can be huge.

当新加坡企业界支持某件事情时，其影响可能是巨大的。

This month this kind of effort was on display as the city hosted a week-long fintech festival that involved everyone from the regulator and the city’s biggest banks to tiny start-ups.

上月新加坡举办为期一周的金融科技节时，这种效果就显露无遗。参加者形形色色，既有监管机构和各大银行的人，也有小型创业企业的代表们。

It attracted thousands of attendees, supporting Singapore’s claim to leadership of the sector in the region.

金融科技节吸引了数千名参加者，为新加坡在亚洲金融科技业中居于领导者地位的说法提供了支持。

But away from the headlines and the hype, the city kicked off another debate in the same week on a rather older topic that could yet have as big a bearing on perceptions of the Lion City — that of introducing dual-class listings to the Singapore Exchange.

然而，除了相关头条和炒作，就在同一周，新加坡就一个更古老的话题掀起了另一场辩论，它与外界对狮城的印象同样密切相关：这个话题围绕新加坡证交所(Singapore Exchange)引入双重股权上市架构的事情。

Proponents, led by bankers and lawyers, argue that dropping Singapore’s one-share-one-vote rule would give it an edge in the region in attracting Asian stars such as Alibaba and global headliners such as Manchester United.

以银行家和律师为首的支持者辩称，取消一股一票规则，将让新加坡在吸引阿里巴巴(Alibaba)等亚洲明星企业以及曼联(Manchester United)等全球人气企业方面在亚太地区享有优势。

Both chose New York over Hong Kong and Singapore because the US was more receptive to their desire to weight voting rights in favour of small groups.

这两家公司的上市地点都选择了纽约，放弃了香港和新加坡，因为美国更乐于接受它们让一小群人拥有更大投票权的愿望。

Both US exchanges have allowed dual-class shares since the 1980s when the New York Stock Exchange, faced with the threatened loss of blue-chips such as General Motors to Nasdaq, dropped its 60-year opposition to the practice.

美国两家证交所自上世纪80年代就允许双重股权架构，当时纽交所(NYSE)面临通用汽车(GM)等蓝筹公司可能转而选择纳斯达克(Nasdaq)的威胁，放弃了长达60年的反对双重股权结构的立场。

Today’s opponents in Singapore argue that allowing more than one class of shares would start a race to the bottom among the region’s exchanges.

如今，新加坡的反对者认为，允许多类别股票的存在将导致地区内各交易所之间出现恶性竞争。

They contend that would exacerbate the governance problems inherent in sprawling family-run empires and state-owned groups.

他们主张，这将加剧大型家族企业和国有企业固有的治理问题。

The SGX will look like a desperate dancer who hitches up their skirt at the end of the night to get attention, said David Smith, head of corporate governance for Aberdeen Asset Management in Asia.

新加坡证交所看上去将会像一个绝望的舞者，在午夜撩起短裙吸引人们的注意，安本资产管理亚洲公司(Aberdeen Asset Management Asia)公司治理主管戴维.史密斯(David Smith)表示，

The SGX is a commercial entity, I know.

新加坡证交所是一个商业实体，我知道。

But many dual-class supporters do each transaction and move on.

但很多双重股权结构的支持者做了交易然后离开了，

Investors are left holding the shares and I don’t see why we should allow this.

到头来是投资者持有那些股票，我不知道为什么我们要允许这种东西。

Singapore changed its laws earlier this year to allow the prospect of weighted voting rights.

今年早些时候，新加坡修改了法律，使双重股权结构成为可能。

The SGX’s Listings Advisory Committee then backed the idea.

接着，新加坡证交所上市顾问委员会(Listings Advisory Committee)支持这种想法。

Next up will be a formal consultation.

接下来就是正式的意见征询了。

Opponents of dual-class shares fear that Singapore’s establishment will embrace the idea much as they have taken to fintech — making it harder to fight.

反对双重股权结构的人士担心，新加坡的当权派会像对待金融科技一样欣然接受这种机制，这将加大抗争的难度。

As one investor put it: What tycoon doesn’t want cheap control of his company?

正如一位投资者所言：大亨为什么不愿意廉价控制他的公司呢？

But pragmatists admit the SGX needs to do something dramatic to entice new listings.

然而，务实人士承认，新加坡证交所需要采取重大举措吸引新的上市。

While its derivatives business has boomed, it has raised just $13.5bn via initial public offerings in the past five years — less than half the funds raised by any of its regional rivals, according to data from Dealogic.

根据Dealogic的数据，新加坡的衍生品业务蓬勃发展，但过去5年，该国通过首次公开发行(IPO)仅融资135亿美元，不到该地区任何一个竞争对手的一半。

Most bruising of all, Hong Kong, its bitter rival, has raised $119bn in that time.

最令人痛苦的是，新加坡的劲敌香港同期IPO融资1190亿美元。

Hong Kong has the world’s biggest capital markets opportunity with China in its backyard, admittedly, said one senior equities banker in the region.

诚然，有中国内地作为后院，香港拥有全球最大的资本市场机遇，亚洲一位资深股票银行家表示，

Singapore needs to tap its neighbours and convince those companies it offers something better.

新加坡需要从邻国入手，说服那些公司它会提供更好的东西。

That is not easy.

这并不容易。

Hong Kong just deliberated for two years on the same topic only to have its proposals shot down in short order by the regulator.

香港就这个话题商议了两年，最终提案被监管机构在短时间内否决。

If Singapore moved fast to implement new rules, it could steal a march since few in Hong Kong have the appetite to take up such a painful topic any time soon.

如果新加坡迅速实施新规，它就会抢先一步，因为香港没多少人有兴趣很快提出这个令人痛苦的话题。

Singapore is expected to consider safeguards, such as each share class listing needing SGX approval, and sunset clauses to limit a family’s control over generations.

预计新加坡会考虑采取一些保护性措施，例如各类别股票上市需经新加坡证交所批准，还有日落条款，以限制家族的跨代控制。

We could find the right balance which would also allow investors to benefit from these arrangements when the companies do well under the right management, said Chen Yih Pong, a principal in the securities practice at Baker & McKenzie Wong & Leow.

律所贝克.麦坚时(Baker & McKenzie Wong & Leow)证券业务负责人Chen Yih Pong表示：我们可以实现合理的平衡，当公司在正确的管理之下取得良好表现时，也让投资者能够从这些安排中受益。

But in a sign of how contentious the issue still is, Singapore’s official consultation, originally due this month, has been pushed into early 2017.

但有迹象表明这个话题仍存在争议，新加坡的官方征询过程原本要在11月开始，但已推迟到2017年初。

The exchange has decided to consult more widely first.

新加坡证交所决定首先进行更广泛的意见征询。

A quick process after that seems unlikely too, if the two-plus years taken by both New York and Hong Kong are any guide — let alone their different outcomes.

在那之后新加坡似乎也不太可能启动一个快速的进程，如果纽约和香港均在这方面花费两年多时间这一点可以作为指引的话（更别提这两个城市讨论的结果不同了）。

Singapore’s dual-class detractors and supporters will have to dig in for a long battle ahead.

新加坡双重股权结构的反对者和支持者将不得不做好持久战的准备。

Neither side has a clear advantage just yet.

双方目前都不具备明显的优势。